Through Hell and Back (Temporary Title)
by Depressed Messiah
Summary: Ron is presumed dead by everyone he knows...Except he isn't. As he's held captive by a dangerous villain without limits, Kim sets off to find his presumed killer(s). Rated M because of strong themes. Story is set during Season 3, after the "Emotion Sickness" episode but before "So The Drama". This is my first fanfiction ever. Please Read and Review (constructive ones). Thanks !
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

Monkey Tale

A faint drop reached his ears.

Not surprised by the sound he'd since long gotten used to, he simply opened his left eye, growling in pain as he did. Greeting his teeth, he kept his head low and let his eye wander around him, watching carefully the room he was in but avoiding the floor, searching for something he could have missed.

He knew he wouldn't find anything.

He didn't knowhow long he had been here but had had enough time to get that his holder was quite the smart one. The room was totally white. He almost couldn't see the lines that separated the walls from the floor or the ceiling: the whiteness had taken the whole space over, leaving him lost in a colorless and fuzzy hell. His hurting head didn't help him focus either: he could still feel the pain from his wounds. A tiny loudspeaker in one corner and the door to his right were his only anchor in the blurry white of the room, as he at least could see when someone entered the room – that is, until his right eye became swollen enough that it seemed to cover a whole half of his face.

The roomwas surprisingly large enough to welcome at least twenty people comfortably. He didn't quite get why so much space was needed to hold one person captive, but _what the hell,_ it sure wasn't the most important mystery to solve right now. He needed to find something, _anything_ he could do. Finding the identity of his holder, even finding something to help him out of this place. He needed to –

"Well, well, hello there. I see someone's awake," said a slow, distorted voice.

He didn't answer. He tried to stay as still as possible, only letting his chest push slightly up and down, trying to look asleep. Much to his disappointment though, his trick didn't work.

"Oh, come on, don't bail out on me. I know you can hear me. Just look up, will you? I don't like talking to furniture."

"What do you want?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "You know, I'm starting to think sleeping has become a privilege around here..."

"Don't worry, you'll have all the time in the world to sleep. Or, should I say, all the remaining time of your life, which, I must say, is shortening quite rapidly." A small chuckle followed those last words. "Unless you give me what I want, of course."

"I already told you, I'm not planning to help you."

His holder let out a loud laugh. He shivered. His whole body seemed to shake just from hearing it.

"I don't think you're getting the idea here. It's not about you helping me. It's about us helping each other. You give me what I want and in exchange, I might leave enough blood inside your body to add a few hours to your lifespan." The man paused, only to speak again, this time in a mocking tone: "Speaking of which, I wouldn't waste too much time if I were you. Looking at this room, I can say it's already received quite the offering from you."

He closed his left eye and silently let out a sigh. He didn't need to look at the room to know what his abductor referred too. Actually, there was a third thing keeping him from falling into a 'white madness': around him, a large part of the floor was bathing in his own blood. Occasionally, a small drip could be heard, meaning that the wound on his back had either reopened or not fully closed. He had avoided looking at the reddening floor, knowing it would only make him even more nervous as he already was, as it reminded him of how bad a state he was in.

"You know, I should thank my genius for having the idea to hang you up. I'm starting to believe you could have drowned in...well, yourself."

He frowned, his eyes still closed, as he weakly tried to move his arms, only to feel an excruciating pain in his muscles and chest as well as hearing the rattling sound of chains. A pair of chains were hanging from the roof and held his arms up, holding them by his wrists, leaving small trails of dry blood. Down below, two more chains were coming up from the floor, holding him by his ankles. The chains however were linked to a rolling mechanism below the room, set in such a way that the young man was literally suspended in the air, his feet a few inches above the floor. He faintly growled as he once again tried to move his limbs, this time stronger, only to let out a small yelp of pain as his movements tensed his already aching muscles. He then felt a small trail a blood flow from his forearm. Guessing a wound had reopened, he couldn't help but shiver as he felt the red liquid slowly run down his arm, his shouled and his chest, letting a red trail on the numerous wounds he had on his body.

The man laughed again, this time longer. "I never thought I'd enjoy seeing physical pain so much. Now, to go back to our business...Are you ready and willing to hear my request now?" Hearing no answer from hiscaptive, he kept going. "Fine, I'll take that as a yes. Now, the story might be a bit long, so I suggest that you sit down...Or up, as you want." The hanging man only raised aneyebrow at the joke.

"No sense of humour, eh ? Well, it doesn't matter. Now, hear me out. My request has something to do with your Monkey powers." Hearing the chains move slightly, he guessed his guest had reacted to his words. "I see you're concerned. Good. First off, do you know the origin of your powers ?" Not waiting for an answer, the voice kept on talking. "You see, it's quite old, actually. Far more than you could imagine..."

He let out a small growl. He focused and listened to his holder as he seemed to open a book and turn pages. He then began his tale.

"A thousand years ago, when the land still hadn't separated and formed the continents we know today, two forces cohabited. They werespiritual beings without a physical form and each of them had powers beyond what we could ever imagine. The first to appear was the Yono. It was as destructive as it was calm and smart, and enjoyed spreading chaos and terror among the lands he wandered by. However, its' birth was soon followedby that of the Han, its' polar opposite. It restored and healed where and when the Yono stroke. They constantly fought, each one of them trying to subdue the other. One day though, after a battle of four days and nights which left the land as desolated as it could be, the Han managed to defeat its' natural ' good nature kept it from killing the Yono: instead, it turned it to stone and sealed it into the depths of the earth, where no one could ever free it from its' prison. The few hundred years that went by after those events witnessed the healing of the earth: plants and trees grew taller and stronger, rivers flowed endlessly without stopping and mankind started evolving and growing into smarter and stronger groups."

The man's voice paused. It seemed to wait for something before starting again.

"Peace and happiness didn't last, unfortunately. The wind suddenly stopped blowing; mountains began to crumble down to the earth, crushing lives and landscapes throughout the planet; flowers and trees slowly died, their leaves resting on the crackled floor of what had once been beautiful forests. The Han, which had retired to a hidden cave in a remote place near the sea, first feared the obvious: the Yono had returned..! But its' fears were soon washed away by a panic it had never even started to feel before." Hearing the chains move inside the room, he saw the confused look on his captive's face and smirked while talking. "It saw a monstrous form fall from the heavens, crushing the trees on which it landed. The creature stood up to reveal itself: taking the form of a giant gorilla, it brought up his enormous fists and roared, destroying a large mountain a few hundred yards away. The Han instantly knew it couldn't beat the creature alone. Reluctantly, it searched for the bravest warrior it could find and entered his body. Leading him to the prison where the Yono was sealed, it freed its' evil twin power which, after seeing the horrendous figure of the giant ape, agreed to help take it down. Entering the warrior's body as well, both powers then let the mere humanhandle their power, knowing that only a physical body would be able to hurt the physical form inhabited by the monstruous turned into weeks, weeks into months. Then, after a whole year of brawling and destruction, the warrior convinced the Han and the Yono to fuse. He told them that only by allowing their powers to merge together they would be able to take down their enemy. Once the fusion took effect, the battle took a whole new turn: the warrior, suddenly able to use both powers to their full extent, unleashed all the forces he held into his body, killing the monster. Not wanting to let his enemy escape, he used what little energy remained in him to seal the monstrous power away and send it back to where it came from: the sky. As the Han and the Yono both exited his body, the warrior then fell to the ground, dying. Wanting to honour hissacrifice, the twin powers took his soul and made it so that the will and strength of the hero would be reincarnated every generation in the body of a also made sure that, if the worst came to happen again, a hero would be able to summon what once led them to victory. Both powers immensely tired and spent, they decided to have a truce and retreated to where each of them belonged, swearing to be awoken only by those who would be worthy of using their powers. As the Yono sunk back into the depths of the earth, the Han returned to his cave by the sea, only this time sinking it to the deepest sea floor it could find. And, once again, peace returned..."

Silence followed his holder's had said nothing during the whole tale, breathing slowly as if trying to relax as much as possible in his condition. The man stayed silent a few minutes before speaking again.

"I hope you get what I want, now."

Keeping his eyes closed, he answered in a slow voice, as if trying not to cough: "I take it you want the powers of the big ape guy ?" He could almost hear the smirk in the man's voice as he spoke up again:"Indeed."

"I still don't know what you want from _me_ , though. I can tell you I have no idea what those powers are and where they are."

"Maybe you don't right now, but you _will_ know where they are. And after you've told me what I want to know, I will use you to get rid of the Han and the Yono, the only things that would be able to stand in my way. And finally, I'll get rid of you. So don't get your hopes too high about leaving this place safe and sound. If you ever do, it will be in different pieces."

He stayed silent while his kidnapper bursted out in laughter. Opening his left eye, he glanced directly at the loudspeaker on the roof, a hinch telling him that a small camera was hidden inside, allowing his holder to see his face. He then grinned and said:

"You're forgetting a third obstacle to your plans."

The man stopped laughing, only to speak in a mocking tone:

"What, _her_ ? Stop deceiving yourself. She won't come. She won't stop me. She won't save you. It's over."

"You don't know her as I do. You should know she can do anything, though. It's her motto, after all."

"Oh, I know fully well all that. That's why she actually will be taken care of...in time."

He snorted. And laughed. And then coughed when the chains pulled even more on his limbs.

"Don't be so full of yourself. She's saved me before and she will again. I trust her with all my being." He heard a faint, irritated sigh and smirked. "What? Don't tell me I'm getting on your nerves. I know I'm annoying, but come on! I'm just hanging around, here."

Ignoring the lame joke, the voice abruptly growled: "Your lousy self irritates me. I guess I'll have to crush that before forcing out the locations out of you."Small pause. Then, as the door to the room opened: "Say hi to my friends, little boy. They haven't had social contact in a while, so you might find them quite...rough." The loudspeakerlet out a loud laugh before turning off, leaving the man hanging – literally and figuratively – as two large, strong and masked men stepped inside the room. He tried to follow both of them with his left eye, but quickly gave up when one of them went right behind him. The other stayed in front of him, dangerously close.

"Hey guys. So, I'm the first guy you've spoken to since a long time, it seems. You wanna talk about something? I love video games, if you want we can talk about – "

His sentence was cut off by his scream, as the masked man behind him struck his back hard with a strong whip. He could already feel the blood flowing down his body and his skin peeling off as he arched his body backwards, exposing himself to the thug in front of him, who quickly took the opportunity to hit him with numerous punches on his stomach. Coughing up blood, the young man shook his head, trying to get his long, blonde hair out of his face. Then lifting his head, he braced himself, getting ready to take on the next hits.

The door seemed to stay closed for hours and hours, the room echoing with screams and grunts as the pool of blood on the floor slowly grew larger. It wasn't until his head fell forward, hanging low while his whole body went limp, that it finally opened. The two masked men whipped the front of his body one last time, leaving a small cut near his right nipple before exiting the room.

Already unconscious, Ron Stoppable didn't even growl.

He couldn't.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys !**

 **So, a few words before you start reading the second chapter.**

 **First, let's start with the disclaimers: I don't own anything, Kim Possible is Disney's property, you know the drill.**

 **Second, a bit of warning. This story will have some serious and very mature content. Some scenes in future chapters (I already have one in mind) will be really hard to read (and to write, gosh I'm not even ready), so be warned.**

 **Third, about the story itself. The idea came to me some weeks ago. As said before, it's a really dark story, with a bit of everything (humour, romance, etc). I think it will be around ten chapters long, but we never know. Maybe it'll be longer, maybe I'll end it before, we'll see. As for the chronology, it's set after the "Gorilla Fist" episode (which means Kim know about Ron's powers) but before "So The Drame", so there's still no Kim/Ron couple. And I doubt the stoy will be compatible with the show's fourth season, so there you have it.**

 **Finally and most important: I want to thank my "Beta reader", who is a very close friend of mine. She has been, is and will be really helpful and I hope she'll agree to stand me a bit longer.**

 **Finally (yes, there's a second "finally", I know), about the delay in posting the chapters. Actually, this chapter has been completed for a whole month. But I haven't been very well for some time, so it was kinda hard to get back to it. One of the things that kept me motivated was the success of the first chapter. Your reviews were fantastic and it really helped me up. So, thank you all. And please, PLEASE keep reviewing, even if you disliked what I wrote. Constructive critics are always welcome and it's really helpful.**

 **That's finally it. Now, off you go with your reading ! I hope you'll like it. Chapter 3 will (hopefully) be ready soon.**

 **Chapter 2:**

And darkness came

All Kim could hear was silence. She stood there, arms on her sides, head low and her gaze focused on the grass.

Her body seemed so weak that when the wind weakly began to blow, any bystander would have feared to see her dragged along. Her red hair flew gracefully around her face, covering it and staying there as the girl didn't bother to remove it. In fact, she didn't even notice the movements of her hair. She didn't notice the wind nor theleaves rustling behind her.

She was lost, both in thought and in self-loathing.

 _How did it happen ? How did I let that happen ?_

Her fists clenched, arms shaking as her whole body tensed in anger. _'The girl who can do anything'. What a joke. Look at me. If I could do anything, then he...he..._

She silently breathed through her teeth, shutting her eyes as the thought crossed her mind. She then felt something running down her face. Surprised, she looked up at the sky, wondering when it had begun to rain. Seeing only blue and no clouds, she realized she was crying. And, while her cheeks slowly became wetter, she closed her eyes again and let her head dropagain.

A word suddenly appeared in her mind, growing brighter and stronger by the second. She bit her lip as she tried to keep the thought as far away as she could. For a moment, she succeeded.

 _DEAD._

The word hit her right in the chest. She felt all the air in her lungs vanish as she let out a gasp. The pain was worse than anything she had ever experienced. Within seconds, all her previous fights had been reduced to nothing as she felt her heart being torn, ripped off her chest and thrown to the ground. Sobbing, she fell to her knees, bruising her ankles as she did.

As sadness and pain echoed throughout her body, she looked at the stone in front of her. She could see her own heart there, beating slower and slower as the same word invaded her mind, pushing out any other thought. She kept sobbing as she saw her heart stopping, letting her blood flow down the stone, leaving a small red trail on the epitaph.

 _Ronald Dean Stoppable_

 _1990-2006_

 _Beloved son_

 _Loyal friend_

 _Young Hero_

 **A month earlier**

" _How do you think villains do their shopping ?"_

" _What ?"_

" _Well, I mean, it's not like they can just walk through the doors of Smarty-Mart and grab something to eat, you know ? So, I was wondering, how do you think they do it ?"_

" _Ron."_

" _I guess "stealing" might be the probable answer...Though I was thinking of something more like Internet shopping. But then, wouldn't there be people who can track their IP thingies and then locate them ?"_

" _RON !"_

" _What ?"_

" _A little bit of focus, here ! We're on a mission, remember ?"_

" _Oh, yeah, right. Sorry, Kim. Going into mission mode."_

" _Thanks. Now, try to keep a low profile."_

 _The teenage girl turned around to look at the tall lair in front of them. Only a few hours ago, Wade had called and told them Drakken was being his usual evil self along with Shego. Her and Ron had called in a favour and now, here they were. For a moment, Kim let her mind wander back to the first time they had seen the big building: she hadn't even been afraid. She had mostly been curious and actually quite surprised that such an immense construction would remain undetected by international organizations, including Global Justice._

 _She snapped back to reality as she heard Ron babbling again about 'villain shopping'. She scowled him and turned back her focus to the outer wall of the lair. Both her and Ron took out their grappling gun and fired it, managing to hook it near a high-placed window. They opened it and sneaked in a dimly lit room. They slowly made their way towards the central room of the place, the command room where Drakken usually displayed his inventions._

 _Kim had a strange feeling. She didn't know if it was instinct, but she knew something wasn't quite right. Maybe the fact that they hadn't seen even one henchman ? Well, yes, but not only that. The feeling bugged her for a few seconds, until she decided to wait and see, sending her thoughts to the back of her head. Just in time, as they reached the doors to the room._

 _Hearing Drakken's mumblings, Kim couldn't help but smirk. As much as she did what she did to help people, she had to admit she liked almost as much being able to kick some villain's ass, specifically Shego's, probably the only one who could oppose some kind of physical resistance and a decent fight._

 _Both teens walked through the door, entering the large room. Their gaze was instantly focused on Drakken. They could only see his back though, as he was bend over some blueprints displayed on a table in front on him._

 _Again, the weird feeling came back. This was wrong, really wrong. Wasn't he expecting them ? He usually detected them or had at least a surprised reaction, but now he was simply ignoring them. Hell, Kim didn't even know if he had heard or seen them at all. She took a step forward and instantly felt her foot slip. She didn't fall, but suddenly felt light headed. She put a hand on the side of her head, trying to understand where this dizziness had come from. As her vision got fuzzy, she crouched, trying to keep her balance as she heard Ron call out her name and approach her. Focusing her eyes in front of her, she saw the villain slowly turn around to look at her. Something odd was on his face. His eyes seemed off..._

 _Her eyes grew wide._

 _A gas-mask._

 _She opened her mouth, trying to tell Ron to stay away, but instead absorbed more of the invisible sleeping gas spread all over the room. She fell forward, her eyes closing, until she saw only darkness._

Kim bent forward, resting her forehead against the tombstone.

 _How did I miss it ?_

She tried to calm down, trying to breathe slower. Once her heartbeat had returned to steady pace, she closed her eyes, preparing herself for the memories begging to come back and haunt her.

 _She grunted. Her head was aching. It took her at least a few minutes just to open her eyes, only to close them again right away._ _She breathed through her gritted teeth, opening them one more time, this time slowly. After what seemed a whole hour, she fully regained her senses and notices the ropes that were tying her up to a large pillar. After some struggling, it appeared that Drakken's 'tying up' skills were as sloppy as usual. Kim managed to loosen up the ropes and dropped to the floor, rolling forward before getting up in a fighting stance, just in case. Seeing no one was coming to attack her, she relaxed her muscles and sighed. Now that the weird part was done, it was time to get the villain and save the day. She began to walk but soon stopped in her tracks. She glanced around her, concern suddenly overflowing her mind._

" _Ron ?"_

 _Nothing. Or rather, no one. Her worry grew more intense every second that went by. It was soon replaced with frustration, though. Why was this mission so weird ? First the sleeping gas, which was unusually smart and subtle for someone like Drakken. And now, her and Ron held separately ? What the hell ? And even stranger, no one to keep watch over her. If they weren't here, then that meant they were with Ron. She could picture him tied up just like her, Shego teasingly getting her glowing hands closer to him, burns slowly appearing on her friend's skin..._

 _She shivered. Her frustration became anger at the thought of those bastards hurting him.Her arms throbbing in anger, she pulled out her Kimmunicator and called Wade._

" _Kim ! What happened ? I lost contact with you for -"_

" _Scan the lair, Wade. I want to know where Ron is."_

" _Ron ? Wait, you mean he isn't with you ? What -"_

" _Wade."_

 _The tone of her voice sent a chill down the young genius' spine. He had seen her angry before, of course, even furious, mostly against the Tweebs. But he felt something entirely different this time. Her whole body seemed to vibrate with her anger. The flame in her eyes somehow had a darker shade to it, way more serious and hurtful than usual._

 _Wade instantly started typing on his keyboard. Merely ten seconds later, he gave Ron's location to the redhead, only able to see her storm out of the room through the Kimmunicator's camera. Shivering, he decided to let communication open, just in case._

 _Kim was running around the lair. She followed the instructions Wade had given her, seriously thinking of activating the rocket-shoes she wore. She didn't need to though, as she arrived soon enough at the right place. Not even thinking about sneaking in, she walked through the doors. She stopped almost right away though, as the sight in front of her made her body tense even more._

 _Ron was pinned to a wall by strong mechanical arms. He had some bruises on his arms, probably from trying to escape from his prison. His breathing seemed shallow, perhaps a broken rib. A small cut on his lower lip was letting blood drip on the floor, forming red trails on his shirt and pants._

 _Kim's anger grew stronger than ever. Her arms were shaking and her fists were clenched so hard they were growing whiter by the second. She let out a small growl and started walking again towards Ron._

 _While she was looking at her friend and his wounds, the bad guys in the room had noticed her. Six henchmen jumped at her from all sides while Drakken and Shego stayed behind, grinning._

 _Kim didn't even bother to evade the attack. When the one in front of her got a few inches close to her, she dropped to the ground in a crouching position and slid her legs forward. The thug having gathered speed, the sudden sweep of his legs threw him forward and into his partner that was coming from behind, knocking both of them out. Kim quickly stood up and performed a roundhouse kick, sending three of them into a nearby machine and leaving them unconscious. The last henchman, taking advantage of the young girl's vulnerable position, tried to grab her from the side in one swift motion. The redhead saw him coming and instantly backflipped, landing hard on the thug's back. Leaning over, she drew a final, strong punch to the side of his forehead, knocking him out cold._

 _Standing up, she turned around and saw Ron a few feet in front of her. Without thinking of Shego's and Drakken's possible whereabouts, she ran up to him and squeezed him, trying to wake him up. He finally opened his eyes, giving a tired smile to his best friend._

" _Oh, hi there..." He glanced around and saw the henchmen unconscious on the ground. "I would have loved to help you out, but you know, my hands were kinda tied...Both figuratively and literally."_

 _Kim chuckled, then moved closer to give him a fierce hug. "Damn it, I was worried. Now, let's get you out of these and bring you home."_

" _Not so fast, Princess !"_

 _Turning around, the redhead growled as she recognized her arch-foe standing next to a computer a few feet away. "Nice timing, Shego. I was just thinking of you."_

" _Oh, I'm flattered. Don't worry, I'll make sure your body remembers me too, just like your sidekick's. I think the burn marks work as nice tattoos, don't you think ?"_

" _Don't know, don't care. But stay still. I'll show you just how good I am at marking your skin with my fists."_

 _Shego didn't have the time to reply. She opened her mouth just to have it instantly closed by Kim's uppercut to her jaw, sending her flying into the air. Reacting promptly, she flipped and landed on her feet, a small cut now marking her lip. She smirked and jumped at the young girl, hands glowing brightly._

 _The fight escalated quickly, both women returning every hit they took. It soon appeared that Kim was gaining ground though, as her hits were far more violent than Shego's. For each bruise the young hero had on her body, Shego had blood marks. Finally **,** the villain was brutally thrown to the wall by a powerful kick Kim had delivered to her chest. _

_Waiting for her arch-foe to stand up, the teenage girl had a strange feeling yet again. Shego was acting strange. Well, she was her usual self, but quite weaker. Her punches and kicks barely hurt, and her moves were slower, almost robotic. They lacked the improvisation, the speed and the fluidity that made Shego so dangerous. Kim was conscious that her actual enraged state and the flow of adrenalin through her body were boosting her. Still, even taking this into account, something was definitely wrong with her enemy. Not that she was complaining, though. She would enjoy defeating her this time. She would hit her the same way she had hit Ron, giving back every hit, however weak or strong, she had inflicted on her friend. Grinning at the thought, she slowly walked towards Shego, still getting up from the ground._

 _She was stopped in her tracks though, as Drakken, now in his hoverboard, had fired a laser gun mere inches from her feet. Jumping back, she stared as Shego performed a high jump to join Drakken on his flying device and the madman started to speak._

" _My dear Kim Possible. I'm sorry to tell you that this is enough. You've done enough damage here. We will go, and you won't catch us. You'll let us go."_

" _What exactly makes you think that I'll let you go ?" Kim let out in a growl, fists clenching again._

 _The villain grinned. "Because you might want to take care of your friend and bring him home." Kim grew silent. She knew he was right. Damn it ! She wanted to beat them up so badly...But Ron was more important. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something happened to him because of her._

 _Her train of thought was suddenly cut off by Drakken: "...That is, if you manage to defuse the bomb, of course."_

 _Her heart missed a beat. A bomb ? What bomb ?_ **)**

" _Well, seeing as you don't have much time left, we should leave. After all, we wouldn't want to be caught in the explosion...Would you ?" The hoverboard then flew away, Drakken's evil laugh echoing within the room._

 _Kim didn't waste a moment. She ran back to Ron and started searching for any bomb device she could find. Ron wasn't really helping her focus, though._

" _A bomb, huh ? So classic. I mean, I know there's this "Code of villains" and all, but...Really ? A bomb ? Come on, there must be something more to this. I swear, the lack of originality this days..."_

" _RON !"_

" _What ?"_

" _Do you want to be saved or not ?! If you do, shut up, please and thank you !"_

" _No need to yell, Kim, I'm right -"_

 _One glance from his friend made him stop mid-sentence. He knew when she was serious, and now she was dead-serious. He closed his mouth and let her focus._

 _Kim, focusing again, noticed for the first time how long the mechanical arms that held Ron in place were. She had been so focused on her friend that she hadn't seen the long metallic pipes that linked them to a control panel displayed on the wall a few feet away. Once she saw what it showed, she pulled out her Kimmunicatior. She had one minute to defuse the bomb._

" _Wade !"_

" _I'm already looking into it. Give me a few seconds..."_

" _Hurry !"_

 _She saw Wade's face grow pale. She felt her heart clench._

" _I-I'm sorry, Kim. I can't do anything. I could defuse it, but it would take me at least ten minutes, and that's by working fast."_

" _Can't you cut off the signal or something ? Can you do anything ?"_

" _No. I've never seen something like this. I can't do it."_

 _The shocked look on his face told her anything she needed to know. Glancing back at Ron, she ran to him and tried to think of anything. Tears of frustration began to form in her eyes. She let out a growl and pulled her hair in despair. It couldn't end like this ! She had to think of something !_

 _Looking at the device, she saw that only thirty seconds were left. Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks now. She closed her eyes, still trying to think._

" _Kim."_

 _She looked up to Ron; and was shocked to see him smile. A reassuring, calm smile. She couldn't help but notice that it didn't reach his eyes, filled with fear and sadness._

" _It's alright. We both knew the risks right from the start."_

" _What are you saying ? We can still do it ! Come on ! Think !"_

" _No, Kim -" He slowly breathed and looked right into her eyes." Leave me here. You've always been the hero, you know ? I'm just the sidekick. I can be helpful, but you are the important one. Leave and keep up with everything we've done."_

" _Don't talk nonsense ! I'm not leaving you !"_

" _I knew you'd say that." Ron sighed. "You are everyone's hero, Kim. You can't die here." He paused. "You're my hero, too."_

 _Kim felt more tears flowing down her face. She brought up a hand and took his hand, squeezing it hard. "I'm staying with you, whether you want it or not."_

" _If you want it that way..." He suddenly shouted. "Wade ! Activate Kim's rocket-shoes and get her out of here ! NOW !"_

 _(Middleton, Wade Load's house)_

 _The young African-American genius had been listening to the whole conversation. Tears were filling up his eyes, too. Typing on his keyboard as fast as he could, he remotely activated Kim's shoes. Once he had finished the process, he felt a tear fall_ _on his hand._

 _His tears were flowing freely down his cheeks. He didn't wipe them._

 _He didn't want to._

 _(Drakken's lair)_

" _What ?! What are you-"_

 _Kim's sentence was cut off as her shoes began to drag her towards the doors of the room, steadily gaining speed._

" _Sorry, Kim ! The world needs you more than I do !"_

" _RON !"_

 _Her shout echoed within the room. But she wasn't there anymore. She was nearly outside the lair, taken away by her shoes. "Wade ! WADE ! Take me back ! I can save him ! I'll save -"_

 _Her voice was covered by the ear-crushing sound of an explosion. She saw the lair slowly collapsing on itself, burying everything beneath its' own ruins. The blast of the explosion threw her off balance and into the nearby forest, slamming her hard against a tree._

 _All the air vanished from her lungs._

 _And all became dark._

She looked at the sky.

And then –

Waking up at the hospital.

First, the confusion. The dizziness. Then, the memories. The mission. The gas. The henchmen. Shego.

The bomb.

And Ron –

 _Ron._

She had cried the first day and the first night. She tried to get up from the bed. She wanted to return to the lair to look for him. She wanted to find him. She _needed_ to find him. But her injuries were hurting too much. The nurse put her back in bed, crying and screaming.

She had spent the next two weeks recovering from her aching bones and muscles. She didn't talk to anyone. She ate as much as she slept, which wasn't even remotely enough.

Finally, she went home. And she had spent the last week in her room, barely coming out of it to eat something, mostly at night when she thought everyone was asleep. She then returned to the safe place her bed had become. She didn't even cry anymore. She just stayed there, lying on the sheets, gazing at the ceiling. Her thoughts were all focused on one person only. And every time she remembered the events, she buried her face in her pillows to muffle her screams.

She had thought of suicide. Briefly. Ignoring Wade's calls on her Kimmunicator, Monique's texts, her family's attempts at cheering her up, her thoughts led her once again to Ron. She began to wonder what he felt at that moment. Sadness ? Disappointment that she wasn't able to save him ? Betrayal ? Anger ? She couldn't figure it out. And it drove her crazy. So one night, after closing the fridge, her eyes somehow landed on the kitchen knife. Glancing at it, she stayed there for a full half-hour, seriously thinking of the opportunity and of the consequences. She had actually stepped closer to it. But as her fingers touched the blade, memories of Ron's final moments rushed back through her mind. Jumping back with a gasp and widened eyes, she had run back to her room, shutting herself inside. Now, she didn't even dare to look around the kitchen.

Eventually, she came out of her room. The only reason being Ron's funeral. She didn't want to go. She couldn't look at him anymore. But when her mother told her his body hadn't been retrieved, she felt strangely relieved. She wanted to remember him alive, moving, his sparkling brown eyes. Everything, but not dead.

The ceremony had gone without a hitch. Everyone was quiet. Some were sobbing, others kept looking at the ground. But everyone avoided her eyes. That was fine by her. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle their compassion, their pity, their sadness when she couldn't even handle her own. Not a tear wet her face when they buried his body. Not a tear crossed her cheek when she rose to lay a flower in his grave. And, after everyone took off, she stayed there, standing, as silent as the stone in front of her.

And there she was now.

She thought about the past weeks. Now that she was outside and he was buried, she couldn't help but feel more relaxed, more calm.

What had she been doing ? She had cried, screamed, cried again. Damn, she had even thought of killing herself ! What was that all about ? She was 'the girl who can do anything', right ? She had to do something. Anything ! She knew going back to her room would end up killing her with sadness. She had to act. But act how ? Do what ?

 **(Possible household)**

"I'm worried about her."

"We all are, James. She just lost her best friend. And she blames herself for it."

"You sure ?"

"Come on, I'm a doctor. Besides, she's the one that started this whole saving the world thing, Ron followed her because she's – " Anne paused. "... _was_ his best friend. Right now, she probably thinks it's her fault he was even there with her."

James sighed. "I guess you're right. Still, I wish we could do something more than just stand around trying to cheer her up..."

Anne reached out to him and drew him into a loving hug. "I know. I wish we could, too."

 **(Graveyard)**

She knew what to do.

She wanted the pain to go away. She knew it wasn't possible. Even for her. But she knew how to make it easier to handle. And there was only one way to do that.

She reached inside her pocket and took out her Kimmunicator.

"Wade."

"Kim ! I've been trying to reach you for days ! How are you doing ?"

His voice sounded desperate and, at the same time, relieved.

"No time for that. I have a favour to ask."

"Sure, Kim. Anything."

"There's two people I'd like you to locate for me..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there ! Sorry for taking so long. It seems I kinda have a hard time beginning to write a new chapter after finishing one. So, I really _hope_ the next chapter will be ready before the end of the year, but I won't promise anything. **

**Second, if you got any questions or remarks, you can of course write reviews or directly send me a message, I'll answer quite quickly.**

 **Finally, it's starting to really come together ! Chapters are longer every time and I have a lot of ideas. I think the whole thing will be about 10 chapters long, but we never know. So stay tuned !**

 **Last piece of warning before letting you read: for the next chapter (this one is n°3, so n°4), I will change the rating of the fic, because I'm planning to write a really hard scene. I'll put this warning again at the beginning of the next chapter, but just so you know it, if you don't like or don't handle well harsh scenes, you may want to skip a bit of the story next time.**

 **That's it ! Read well and I hope you'll like it !**

 **Load's household**

Wade was tired.

He had spent the last three days and nights harassing his computer system, forcing it to scan, analyze, track down every small piece of evidence he could find about Shego's and Drakken's whereabouts. He could almost hear the machine cry in agony, reflecting his own pain. Wade kept it locked up inside his brain, though. This was not the time to cry, to be angry and mostly to let Kim and Ron – he shivered – down. He couldn't, not now. Not after what he had done.

Wade was feeling guilty.

Ever since the event, he had lost almost all sleep. He had stayed awake the first nights, his thoughts too disturbed to let him rest. When he had finally managed to close his eyes, it was to open them only a few minutes later, panting and trying to catch his breath. When he had tried to remember the details of his nightmare, his stomach seemed to jump right up his throat, forcing him to run to the bathroom to throw up what little food he had eaten the previous days. He had stayed there for two hours, sitting right next to the toilet, gasping and sobbing until his body had no longer anything to give up. He had then came back to his chair and turned on his computer, deciding to do something, _anything_ to distract himself from those thoughts.

He became scared of falling asleep. Scared that if he stopped being busy, his brain would let the guilt and the grief take over. And he knew he wouldn't be able to stand it: he would crumble down and begin regretting and blaming himself over and over. And why shouldn't he? _He_ was the genius of the team. _He_ was supposed to know how to deal with computer systems, bombs, viruses, malwares...Yet, just when it counted the most, right when he definitely couldn't allow to fail, he did. He couldn't help them. He had just watched helplessly, his brain whirling around, trying to catch a glimpse of an idea that might save Ron. And what for? The one that needed saving ended up being the savior. Ron was the only one that reacted quickly and smartly enough. Wade let out a frustrated growl. What good did it make to be a genius if it didn't help save his friends?

Wade closed his eyes. Breathing slowly, in and out, he then got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He stayed there a few second, looking at his reflection in the mirror, silently cursing his helplessness. He resisted the urge to cry, and began to bite his lower lip until he felt warm blood starting to pour out. The young genius sighed and reached for the first aid kit, don't wanting to spill blood everywhere in his room. His hand had just grabbed the kit when he heard a sound. At first Wade wondered what it was. Confused, he glanced around, wondering where it came from, only to hear it again a few seconds later. And again. And again. It took him a whole half-minute to understand. When he did, his eyes widened. Letting the kit fall to the floor, he ran to his room and threw his chair to the side, focusing on the screen of his computer. His eyes swiftly followed the letters and numbers that were displayed and, slowly, a smile appeared on his face.

He had found them.

Walking back to his bed, he sat on the edge of it. His feelings were mixed. He felt relieved, knowing that he hadn't become completely useless. A bit of pride was there too: of course ha had found them. How could he have doubted that? He was a genius, after all. But, most of all, he felt satisfaction and happiness. Now that he had their location, Kim would find them. And he strongly hoped she would pay them back a hundredfold. But first, he had to tell her what he had found.

He got back to his computer, sat on his chair and called Kim on her Kimmunicator.

"Wade. Any news for me?"

"I found them."

Silence.

"Where?"

"A warehouse in Upperton. I've sent you the location already."

A 'beep' told him she had cut the communication. That was fine. Now wasn't the time for words. His smile widened.

 _Give them hell, Kim._

 **Middleton High School**

She had enough.

She had been back to school for a few hours only and she already couldn't stand it. The looks of compassion, people she barely even knew coming to her to tell her how sorry they were for her loss, how sad it was and how depressed they were. Yeah, right. They didn't even talk to Ron and they expected her to believe their words? Please, she was smarter than that.

One good thing though was that being at the hospital for a few weeks had prevented her from going to the ceremony the school put up in Ron's honor. She silently thanked her injuries each time she walked in front of posters commemorating his memory. She knew she would have hated being there. Seeing all those unknown people that mocked him, sometimes bothered or hit him in the hallways suddenly start to tear up thinking about their so-called friendship would have made her sick. And she probably would have kicked some of their asses, too. And it would've reopen her wounds.

Fortunately, she had Monique. She knew how Kim was dealing with the whole situation and didn't try to force anything out of her. She was there, talked about anything, laughed – mostly alone, since Kim wasn't in the mood – and listened when she felt it was needed. That was all that mattered: she :knew when Kim wanted to open up or when she needed her to keep talking to keep the bad thoughts away. And Monique did it perfectly.

"I can't stand it', Kim suddenly said.

Monique didn't say anything. She just stopped right in her tracks, even though she was telling a rather funny thing that happened at word with a client. She did a mental memo to tell that story later and focused on what Kim was going to say. After a small pause, the words came out:

"All of them. Those hypocrites. They cry now that he's gone, but they haven't even talked to him even once in years. They shouldn't feel sad. They don't have the right."

"Well, girl, it's like when you hear on the news that a teenager died. You didn't know him or her, but he or she was a teenager like you. So you feel sad, because there's this small connection. It's the same here, plus the fact that he's in the same school as all of them. So they feel concerned. I'm not sure they really feel sad. It's more like 'Holy crap, he's our classmate and he died, that's harsh'."

"It's not harsh. It's way worse."

"I know. What they feel can't even compare to how you felt and how you're feeling right now. But let them be. What can you do about it? Hit them until they feel happy about what happened?"

"I could try."

"Bad idea, girl. Very bad idea, trust me. I tried that once with a guy I broke up with. Didn't end well".

"Yeah, you've told me that story. How is he doing, by the –"

"Kim?"

Both girls turned around at the sound of the small voice. Kim was a bit surprised to see Tara in front of her. She felt anger start to build up, though, as she saw her red eyes, showing that the blonde girl had cried. And she didn't need to be a genius to know what she had cried about.

Monique, feeling her friend tense up a bit, rapidly answered the question.

"Hey Tara. How is it going?"

"Not so good, Monique, but thanks for asking. If you don't mind, I'd like to talk with Kim in private. Could you give us a bit of space for some minutes, please?"

"No prob. I'll wait for you, Kim."

"Yup, see you then." Kim and Tara watched as Monique walked away. "So, what is it, Tara?"

Her voice came out a bit more aggressive than she first intended. But another look at the girl's red eyes made her even angrier. How could she? She _dared_ to –

"I'll be blunt: I'm sorry if it brings up painful memories, but...I know the news and all covered it, but I'd like to know from you how his last moments were."

Kim felt taken aback by her question. Suddenly, all the memories violently struck her mind: the mission, the lair, Drakken, Shego, the bomb, his death. And even more: her depression, the weeks she spent at the hospital and at home, her suicidal thoughts – all came back.

And it made her even more angry.

She wanted to know _what_? His final moments? Why? Why should she feel concerned? She was Ron's friend, all right, but that didn't mean she could just make such requests. She didn't have the right. And yet she dared. But no. Kim didn't want to tell her anything. That time, those moments, what they felt...It belonged to her and Ron only. She had nothing to do with it. Fuck her. Fuck her sadness. Fuck her grief.

"No. Sorry, but I won't tell you."

"What? Why ?" Tara was visibly shocked by her answer.

"You weren't there. None of you were there. And yet y'all want to know how it was? How it went? How it _felt_? Fuck you. Fuck all of you. _I_ was there. _I_ supported him. _I_ was there for him every times he needed help – "

"Then why is he dead?"

Kim's words died in her throat. She was shocked. The usual soft, timid and gentle girl was now burning with anger, her red eyes full of frustrated tears, her voice slowly rising.

"Huh? You're right. You were there. Then why didn't you help him? Why isn't he here with us?" She began to shout. "Why?! You came back and he didn't! Explain yourself!"

"You think you know what you're talking about? Shut up. Shut up right now. Don't you dare demand an explanation from me. You don't have the right."

"Then stop acting like you have a monopoly on him! Can't we cry for a classmate? For a friend? Even if we weren't as close as you were, we still shared things with him. Can't we honor those times?"

"No. No, you can't", Kim whispered. "Not in my presence. Not until I've found the ones who did it. Not until I've made them suffer as much as I have. Until then, don't you dare show your crying face in front of me again. Or I won't control my fists."

Without giving her the time to answer, Kim turned around and walked away, ignoring the whispers and the looks the other students were giving her. She was so lost in thoughts that she almost jumped when she heard Bonnie's voice.

"Well, you know how to make a scene, that's for sure."

"I swear to God, Bonnie. Don't even go there or I'll give you a personal class on how to shut your mouth."

"All right, all right. Don't get all worked up like that, damn." The brunette paused. "I'm sorry about what happened. I really am."

Kim was about to shoot back at her sentence, but something in Bonnie's words actually touched her. She was being sincere. She really felt sad. But it was different. She didn't feel pity or compassion. Just sadness. She was surprised. She didn't know what to say. So she kept quiet.

"I know we don't get along so well most of the time. And I know I picked up on him every time I could. But still..It isn't fair." Pause. "I'm not gonna offer you a shoulder to cry on. But if you need it, I'm sure you can find people who will gladly give one to you." New pause. "Sorry again."

"Thanks, Bonnie. This really means a lot to me."

Both girls exchanged a look. Bonnie slowly shrugged and walked away. Kim watched her leave, actually feeling a bit better and quite surprised. Her rival was the one of the few people who had actually guessed what she needed.

Her train of thoughts was cut off by a familiar sound. Although she had ignored it many times the past month, she recognized it immediately and pulled out her Kimmunicator.

"Wade. Any news for me?"

She listened to what the genius told her. She then hung up and started walking towards the exit. Her lips curled up in a cold smile. Her fierce eyes became filled with anger and determination. As she hurried home, her head filled with thoughts of what was to come.

 _Just you wait. I'll teach you what pain feels like._

 **Somewhere**

 _What the hell is going on?_

Ron let out a frustrated growl. Why didn't it work?

After his holder had told him his power's origin last time, the teenager had tried to focus his power. He thought that if he managed to actually do it, he could try to at least fasten his healing process, or even try to break free from his restraints. But he couldn't. Everytime he concentrated, his mind became lost in a haze and his head ached, not letting him focus enough to even grasp a bit of his mystical abilities. And yet, he knew they were there.

This wasn't normal. And somehow, he knew it wasn't only due to his fatigue and wounds. There had to be something else preventing him from using it. If only he could find out what –

"How's my little guest doing?"

The voice startled Ron. No, it did way more than that. He was actually panting without being out of breath, his eyes were agitated and his legs were shaking. _Why am I feeling so worried ? It feels like I'm panicking...What's happening here?_ He shivered again when the voice spoke again.

"I'm glad to know I have such an impact on you, but please keep the applause for later, we have some things to discuss."

"What do you want?" He barely managed to get those words out of his throat. _Damn, why is it so hard?_

"Well, first off, I wanted to check on you. It might not look like it, but I worry about you. I need you alive – for now, that is. If you're too roughed up, you may not be able to help me anymore." Ron tried to scoff, but not a sound came out this time. He lowered his head, hoping his holder hadn't seen his failed attempt at talking. "But you know, I'm quite surprised to see you're in a pretty good shape, after all! Well, considering how rough my subordinates were a few days ago..."

He winced in pain as he suddenly remembered the wounds on his body. Hopefully, he hadn't lost too much blood and – _Wait, did he say a few days ago?_

The voice laughed, causing an another shiver down Ron's spine.

"What is it? You look lost." Pause. "Oh, I see...Are you surprised to hear a few days have passed since your beating ? Poor you! I guess being closed up for such a long time really disturbs your internal clock, huh?" A laugh again. Then it stopped. "That's refreshing. A good laugh is always nice. Now, take that dumb shocked look off your face and listen to me. I'll need you soon, so be attentive, because I hate to repeat myself. And if I have to, I promise it won't go as smoothly as last time."

A shiver. Again.

"Great. Now, as I'm sure you've noticed, you don't seem to be able to use your powers here. How so? You want to know?"

Ron tried to speak. But his face was paralyzed. His muscles didn't respond to his commands. With a tremendous effort, he managed to move his head up and down. He could almost hear the voice's smile.

"Good. I told you last time the origin of your abilities, remember? You may be wondering how I know all this. Well, it's quite simple, really: I just did a lot of research. I already knew quite a lot about you and your partner, but I had to know more about that. After all, how would I deal with you if I didn't have means to restrain you? So I looked for anything: books, tales, inscriptions on cave walls...Anything. And I finally came across a young man from Japan. Long story short, let's say I persuaded him in telling me everything he might know about what I wanted. And he did: he told me about an ancient book which was kept in some kind of school, in Japan." Ron's eyes widened. _Oh no._ "Yamanouchi, was it? I sent some men there. It was pretty nice, they told me." Small pause. The voice seemed to grin. "Well, that was before they burned it to the ground, of course. Quite ironic, don't you think? To roast people who eat mostly crude fish." A burst of laughter erupted from the loudspeaker.

This time, Ron couldn't take it. The sound, the _voice_ was so sickening, so awfully disturbing that he threw up. His eyes could only see red dripping though, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since he had gotten here. His head hung low, mouth slightly open, a drip of blood still visible on his lower lip.

"Well, that's a shame. Given the amount of blood you've already lost, you could have needed what you just threw up."

He didn't even listen. His thoughts focused on Japan. A small school on the top of a mountain. Young boys and girls, students like him. _Yori_. _Sensei_. He couldn't believe it. And yet, it didn't surprise him. What did he expect? That he would be the only victim? He probably hoped so."

"Now, now. Where was I ? Ah, yes. So, I managed to get the book. In it, I found a lot of information: how your powers came to be, but also many useful tips about dealing with them. And that was just what I needed." Pause. "You know, when I first heard of your abilities, I tried to analyze it, to understand it. And actually, it is quite easy to understand. It's energy. Mystical energy, of course, and lots of it, but still energy. Which means it's still detectable with the right tools. Also, some people are particularly receptive to it, like yourself or your little friends in Japan. So I thought: two immensely powerful beings like the Han and the Yono _must_ have energy flowing in and out of them all the time, right? Then how come nobody detected that flow until now? Such a big emanation of energy should easily appear on many sensors as long as it isn't too far from the location! I deduced both beings were using something to at least hide their powers. And that's where the book came in handy. A passage talked about some sort of mystical material that was indirectly created during their fight against the 'big ape', as you called it, though in the book this third being is called Shoi. I don't exactly know why, but either way: during the fight, as the powers were clashing, a small part of them merged with rock from the landscape. The result was this mystical material that, due to its' composition, was somehow immune to and actually weakened the powers that created it. I _had_ to find it. So I kept reading the book. And eventually, I got to a page that listed places that, hypothetically, could have hosted the Han or the Yono all around the world. That list was based on old and recent explorations all over the world. You can guess what happened next: I sent my men all around the world. And I can tell you, this material is the real deal. My subordinates managed to find some of it in a few of the places they explored. Unfortunately, what they did not find was the Yono and the Han. I guess they sensed our approach and didn't find me or my men worthy of their power...But no matter. Because I'll find them with your help, whether you want it or not. And by using your power, I'll make them come to me and I'll subdue them. And then, it will be Shoi's turn. And finally, I shall reign over this world with their power!"

A long, mad laugh followed. Ignoring his nausea and the pain in his throat, Ron spoke up.

"I know a good speech when I hear one. But I must say, I still don't get how you're planning to force me to help you. Because I can tell you, I'll never agree to your terms. Mostly because I hate terms. You can ask my school about it, they'll tell you."

A small laugh. "Rest easy, I'm not planning on using brute force this time." Ron's muscles relaxed a bit. He had to admit that escaping another beating was quite reassuring. "No, this time, I'm gonna rely on good ol' technology. She has never failed me and I doubt she will now."

Something in those words made Ron frown. It almost seemed familiar, as if he knew the voice without identifying it. But focusing again on what was happening, his muscles tensed again. He tried to prepare himself for whatever was coming, trying to ignore the pain all over his body. When he heard the door open, he turned his head towards it. When he saw the machine, he winced. _This can't be good._ He heard another laugh.

"Like it? It doesn't have a name yet. Basically, it works like this: the captors are placed on your body and detect your monkey powers. Then, we will be able to absorb and use your powers anyway we want. Even as a weapon, which is why you can see a laser over there. Once we've absorbed your powers, you'll still have some left, of course. Once you have them, you cannot lose them. You'll just be worn out for some time, a few hours maybe. And we'll use what we've absorbed to track down all the flows of energy we can find on the earth and then we'll finally find the Han and the Yono!"

"Nice plan. But there's a problem." Ron made a small pause. He tried to control his breathing and his voice. "I haven't been able to use my powers since I got here, remember? Such a shame, huh? I guess your goons hit me too hard and I lost it." He coughed. He was exhausted.

"Oh, don't worry about that, your powers will work just fine. Remember the mystical material I talked about earlier? The chains that are holding you up are made of it. Which is why you can't use your abilities and also why they're undetectable from the outside. They're far too faint for anyone to notice them. So now, we'll just let you down and you can start working with us. Gentlemen, if you would..."

The goons that had entered with the machine approached him. They placed two captors oh his chest and one on his back and turned on the machine. Then, they let him down. Instantly, Ron had two very different sensations: he briefly felt powerful. He had energy, he could feel his strength returning. And at the same time, he felt his life being sucked out of him. The strength went away as quickly as it had come back. He started screaming. His very soul was being ripped out of him: he felt himself _dying_.

His screaming kept on and on, until he passed out. A blue halo slowly appeared around him, as if to protect him, but was quickly sucked away by the machine. The voice let out a laugh, then turned off the loudspeaker.

Only the sound of the machine remained, the goons silently doing their dirty work.

 **A warehouse in Upperton**

 _Such a crappy place. No wonder they're hiding here, it must feel like home to them._

Such thoughts were running through Kim's head as she got off the motorcycle Wade's contact had given her. She stood right in front of the warehouse where – supposedly – Drakken and Shego were. She approached the front door, not bothering to look for other exits. She wasn't going to let them escape. Not this time. As she put a hand on the knob, she paused.

What exactly was she going to do with them? _They killed Ron._ Yeah, but was that enough to make _her_ a killer too? _Of course it's enough. It's – it was Ron. They deserve even worse._ Did she really want to kill them? _I want them to suffer. No matter how. I want them to feel pain._

She shook her head. With a determined look on her face, she opened the door and stepped inside. She could visualize the room, which was big enough to hold a dozen trucks. She could also see crates there and there, but nothing more. She searched for a light switch and eventually found one. She turned it on. Once her eyes had grown used to the sudden light, she examined the room again. The room was indeed as big as she thought, but she hadn't seen all the crates. There were a few more on the far end of the room.

As she stepped forward, Kim noticed something on her right. Hidden behind some crates, she saw a pair of boots that lead to what looked like blue pants. _Drakken._ She hurried there before slowing down, her instincts kicking in and telling her to be cautious. She came closer and finally turned around the pile of crates that was hiding the figure. When she did though, she jumped back.

It was Drakken indeed. But he was dead.

 _What the hell?_

His body was lying on its' back. Everything seemed normal. Only two things were out of place: the green marks around the wound on his chest and the gun in his right hand. Otherwise, his members were in no weird position, his eyes were closed and his mouth curled up in a strange smile that seemed half evil, half desperate.

Kim crouched and looked closely at the corpse. There was almost no scent from the corpse, which meant the death was quite recent. Maybe a day or two, tops. Unfortunately, she was no expert at this. The wounds on the chest were pretty deep. Probably the cause of death. There wasn't a single drop of blood on the floor, only near the wounds. _So yeah, the hit killed him. He didn't die of blood loss._ She pulled out her Kimmunicator out of her pocket.

"Wade."

"Are you there? What happened?"

Without answering, Kim pointed the device's camera to the body in front of her.

"What the...Kim, did you...?"

"Of course not. Though maybe I could've done it if I had gotten here earlier. Either way, look at this."

"Whoa, Kim. It may surprise you, but this is my first corpse. So be delicate, all right?"

Kim couldn't help but smile. "Sometimes I forget you're only thirteen. Take your time."

"Thanks." Wade relaxed. Seeing his friend actually smile was good, very good. Even if it was in this situation. He focused on the body that appeared on his screen. He tried to bring happy thoughts to his mind while he examined Drakken, but somehow it didn't really work. He frowned.

"I have a hard time believing it, but...The green marks point to Shego."

"I thought so too."

"But it doesn't make sense. Why would she kill him? They worked together!"

"And why now, too? I mean, they were in the perfect situation to take over the world. With me more or less out of the game for a few weeks, they could have easily robbed anything they wanted and more. So why do this now?"

Wade hesitated. "Actually, they did rob some things." Seeing a frown appear on Kim's face, he quickly answered her silent question. "Well, I tried to call you, but seeing as you were...eh...in a bad shape, I let it go."

"You let it go? Why?"

"Well, it was weird. They didn't commit any big crime. In fact, they only performed small robberies: small amounts of money, jewelry...Nothing indicating a new machine or even intentions of dominating the world. It's almost like they didn't even care anymore. So I figured the police could take care of it while you recovered."

"You're right, it's really strange...We'll figure this out later. For now, can you do a scan of his body? I want to know if he has some devices on him that could tell us something. Meanwhile, I'll explore the room a bit more. I don't want to miss anything."

"On it. Be careful."

Kim left the Kimmunicator next to Drakken's body. She walked away and started looking around the warehouse. Eventually, behind some other crates, she found a door. _Damn, maybe I should have checked for other exits before going in...Well, too late now. Let's see what you're hiding..._ She opened the door found herself outside again, this time on the opposite side the entrance she first took. She looked around, but saw nothing more than other warehouses on the pier. There were some ships floating on the water too, but nothing disturbed the silence. She was going to head back when she noticed red marks on the floor. She crouched and touched it. She instantly guessed what it was. _Blood. Hers._ A dark smile appeared on her face. _Thanks for making this easier for me, Shego. Don't die yet, we have unfinished business._

She got up and went back inside the warehouse, next to Drakken's body. She picked up her Kimmunicator.

"So? Did you find anything?"

"The analysis is almost over. One minute and I'll tell you everything about him. Something new on your side?"

"Yup. I found blood prints outside the warehouse, through the backdoor."

"Shego's?"

"Pretty sure it's her. Once we're finished here, I'll track her down."

Wade shivered at the coldness in her voice. He was going to speak but heard a sound indicating that the analysis had ended.

"Finally So, nothing really interesting. The gun in his hand, a pen in his pocket...Huh? That's weird..."

"What is it?"

"There's a faint signal coming from just behind his left ear. Can you look at it?"

Kim leaned forward and checked behind Drakken's ear. She didn't see anything, but heard a faint sound. She turned to Wade's face on the screen.

"I don't see anything, but I can hear a faint sound coming from there. What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'm running another scan, maybe we'll know what it is."

Another minute went by. Kim was growing impatient.

"So?"

"Wait...That's it. What are you hiding, you little – oh."

"What ? What's with the 'oh'?"

"You should start running. And fast."

Her eyes widened. She knew what he meant. _Not again._ She put her Kimmunicator in her pocket and jumped towards the back door. She began to run, not looking behind her. She knew what awaited her if she slowed down. _Death. Just like Ron._ Her muscles tensed. She ran faster and eventually reached the door. She ran out, kicked the door shut and kept running towards the water. She jumped in, right between two boats.

Just as she touched the water, an enormous fireball engulfed the warehouse she was just in. As it exploded, a column of fire grew to at least twenty feet while the explosion hurled the walls and roof in every direction, pieces of stone hitting other buildings in the vicinity, some falling in the water. Kim saw a few drop only a few inches away from her. She quickly dove until she was right under one of the boats that were now rocking from side to side due to the blast. After thirty seconds, unable to hold her breath any longer, she swam up and got her head out of the water.

Fortunately, stones had stopped falling. When she looked up at the sky, she was that it was colored in tones of orange and red, as remnants of the giant fireball. She got out of the water and climbed back on the ground of the pier. She could see stone and wood fragments everywhere. Small fires burned there and there, but nothing really serious. She took her Kimmunicator out of her pocket and turned it back on.

"Kim! Glad to see you're fine."

"Yeah, thanks for the warning."

"No problem. I'm glad I made your Kimmunicator waterproof, too."

"Yeah. But now, most of our leads are gone. Did you manage to get anything from the scan earlier?"

"I got a very faint signal. It's the one that activated the bomb remotely. I'm gonna try and track it down. With some luck, I may be able to find where it came from. But Kim, I'm starting to wonder if there isn't something else at play here...This isn't at all like Drakken and Shego."

"I agree. But for now we don't have anything else. Do your thing."

"What about you?"

Kim turned her gaze to where she had seen the blood prints. This time, no smile appeared on her face. A cold fire danced in her eyes.

"I'm going on a hunt."

 **Somewhere**

Ron suddenly woke up, his eyes nearly bulging out of his face. For a second, he wondered what was that sound that had startled him so much. He then noticed that his mouth was open to it's full extent, hurting his jaw.

His own scream had brought him out of his unconsciousness.

Almost right away, he felt an intense pain running through his arms and his chest. Unable to look at his limbs, he could only close his eyes and keep screaming, praying for the pain to stop. And, unexpectedly, it did. His muscles were still sore and aching, but most of the pain was gone. Panting, Ron opened his eyes again. He glanced around through his tears, wondering what was going on.

"Good, you're awake. Now keep quiet and listen to me."

The voice made Ron's whole body tremble. He felt the coldness in the voice. It terrified him even more than everything he had already experienced in this prison.

"Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to use the machine again. Seems last time wasn't enough. Now, my subordinates will bring it into the room and – "

"You know, you don't have to feel ashamed of not being able to use my powers."

Ron's answer surprised even himself. He had opened his mouth before he could even think about speaking. But what startled him more was that he didn't feel as much pain as before. In fact, almost all of it was gone. _How can it be? My body almost doesn't hurt anymore..Why?_

"You think you're funny? Don't worry, I'll show you how _fun_ I can be, too."

Instantly, Ron felt again the same pain as minutes before. But this time, he understood what it was. The chains that were holding him up had suddenly brought his arms far up his head, tensing and extending them to their limit, hurting his limbs and his shoulders. Panting, he was trying desperately to breathe correctly, causing his chest to swell up, hurting his abdomen and his legs as he tensed them as much as he could to stay in a more comfortable position. Ron started screaming again. But the pain disappeared just a few seconds later.

Letting his head down, Ron felt his saliva drip from his lips to the ground. His muscles were aching again, his breathing was shallow and his throat was sore. But strangely, the pain was already starting to fade. And he didn't get why.

"Interrupt me again and next time I'll tense your arms and legs until they break. Understood? Good. Gentlemen, if you would..."

Just as the voice said those words, a few goons entered the room, bringing in the machine from last time. Ron shivered at the sight. But suddenly, an idea crossed his mind. _So that's how it is, huh...I guess I gotta test my theory._ He gulped down. He felt nervous. If he was right, everything would go smoothly – or, at least, easier than before – but if he was wrong, he was in for quite a lot of pain. He breathed in and spoke up.

"Well, looks like someone's in a bad mood. Can I recommend you a massage? Or even a good vacation, it might be good for all your stress, you know – "

He couldn't even finish his sentence. Again, he felt his arms being brought up his head and also his legs being pulled from under him, tensing him even more. Yet again, he started screaming. The torture went on for a whole minute, making his muscles completely numb once the chains let them fall back to how they were before.

"What did I tell you? Do not interrupt me and keep quiet. Don't even try to mock me. I can inflict you pain you've never imagined. So now, be a good prisoner and behave yourself."

As the goons slowly approached him with the machine's captors, Ron let his head fall down to hide his grin. _Finally some good news. I guess I gotta keep up the act now and don't waste any energy._

Ron felt good. Well, better, to say the least. He had finally understood: the last time the goons used the machine on them, it had sucked out his powers. But not _all_ of them. While most of them were absorbed, a small part had actually flown through his body, trying to heal him. And when the process had ended, this small part had stayed within him, treating his injuries, though not enough to completely heal him, but at least to make his movements easier and ease his pain. Just now, when the voice had used the chains for the third time, he had felt an incredible pain at first, but it had slowly gone away as his powers focused to make it tolerable. He had decided to keep screaming to keep up the act of his pain and suffering. What he didn't understand though, was how his powers could work with the chains holding him. And it struck him: his powers were acting _on their own_. He wasn't using them, he wasn't focusing to try to use them in a specific way. They had begun to heal him on their own, without him playing any part in the process. And also, he could feel there was only a small part of his powers inside him. Maybe that's why they could act: the chains only served to disrupt his focus when he tried to use a lot of his mystical energy. But seeing as there was so little of it, it didn't need any focus from him to act.

As he felt the captors being placed on his body, Ron quickly tried to think. _Come on, try to think: you're now able to use your powers, at least a small part of them. What can you do? It's nice that you can heal yourself now, but you gotta find a way to get out of here before they manage to correctly use your powers..._

Suddenly, he got it. If they could use his energy as a way to track down other sources of mystical energy, maybe he could use it as a beacon! Someone might detect his powers – hopefully Wade's scanners would pick up the signal from his energy – and find a way to locate him! But when to use it...? The only way he could think of was while the machine sucked away his powers. He shivered at the thought. Last time, he had barely held on for two minutes before passing out. Well, it's true that now he had a bit of his powers to keep him from fainting for a while...but still. He was scared.

Ron turned his gaze in front of him, seeing the goons ready to turn on the dreadful machine. He closed his eyes, breathed in and out to try and seal the fear away in a far corner of his mind. He tensed his muscles and braced himself.

As soon as the chains let him fall to the ground on his hands and knees, he had yet again the same feelings as last time: immense power flowing through him and instantly getting to work with his injuries and, at the same time, his body beginning to feel number, his very soul being ripped off his being. Closing his eyes harder and gritting his teeth, he focused his mind on one thing only: putting up a barrier within his powers to keep a small part of it from being sucked away. He grunted, his forehead covered in sweat...

He did it! He almost relaxed and lost his focus. He mentally – and ironically – thanked the pain in his body for not letting him drift away. He could feel a bit of his energy focused on the back of his head. He was going to let it all out around him and out of the room, when a thought struck him. _If I throw it too suddenly, they'll surely notice it somehow. I have to try and let it flow away from me, so that they don't grow suspicious...Ugh, I've never tried this before. This is going to be –_

A sudden pain in his chest interrupted his thoughts. All the air disappeared from his lungs and he started to pant, his sore throat aching. Collapsing on the ground, he focused one last time and began to let go of the energy he had still control of. Slowly, he felt it exit his body in small fragments. He kept his focus while he felt a scream beginning to form in the back of his throat. His body tensed, he could feel his arms and ankles on the verge of snapping due to his effort and the pressure his body was under. He started screaming, howling in pain as he felt his mind about to break.

Then, finally, he felt the last remnants of his powers flow out of his body. Letting go one last time, he stopped fighting the darkness that was dangerously looming over his consciousness. His scream died in his throat his vision grew dark and his brain came to a stop. Simultaneously, the machine stopped: it had absorbed everything. Just as his consciousness faded away, Ron felt the fragments of his power crawling along the walls, sneaking through any opening they could find to get out of the room and vanish into the air.

The goons walked to him and began to take off the captors. When it was done, they chained and hung him up again.

When they left, dragging the machine with them, silence fell upon the room. Only the boy remained, his limbs limp, head down and mouth slightly open, as if asleep.

 **Somewhere else**

The dark figure looked at the screen in front of it. The displayed imaged showed the boy, unconscious, visibly exhausted.

The man let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling.

 _So frustrating. This is so frustrating._

He had watched how Ron's powers were yet again drained from him. But this time, he had noticed that it had taken him longer to give in. How could this be? Was he stronger than he had anticipated? If that was the case, it would be much harder to use him and make him docile.

The man closed his eyes. The problem was his will. As long as he had hope and was willing to fight, he would cause problems. So, he had two options to subdue him: the first one was to destroy that hope. Essentially by killing his damned partner. But she was quite hard to deal with. He had expected his trap at the warehouse to fail, but Shego's blood was problematic. If that redhead found her, it would bring her dangerously close to his plans. He had to think this through, he needed to at least gain time. But either way, there was no way he could deal with her in time. He had to act faster.

The second option was troublesome. He could simply break his prisoner. Make him lose all his will to fight. Make him so weak and so lost that he wouldn't oppose him anymore. The risk being that if he broke him too much, he could have a breakdown or even try to kill himself.

 _What to do, what to do..._ The man thought intensely, eyes still closed. It was _so_ frustrating! He had everything planned out and yet, there was a small speck of dust ready to disrupt the whole machine! He still had time, but he couldn't really afford to waste much more of it. He growled. Anger began to grow in his mind. _If that's how it is_ , _then I guess I haven't got a choice._

He opened his eyes and gave a dark grin to the screen. He had decided.

And he was going to _love_ breaking his prisoner, in every possible way.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone.**

 **So, some things to say before you start reading this chapter.**

 **Again, I'm sorry it took so long to publish this one. Actually, it has been finished for almost two months, but some things happened and I didn't put it online until now.**

 **My academic year is over right now, so I'll have a lot more free time to write. I hope I'll be able to write and publish at least two more chapters this summer, but I think it's better if I don't make any promises. That way, neither you nor me will be disappointed.**

 **Finally, a strong warning. As said at the beginning of the last chapter, I changed the rating of the story because in this chapter, there is a really harsh scene. I guess it will affect some of you more than others, but still, I'm warning you because it is hard to read. And it was quite hard to write, too.**

 **Anyway, I really hope you'll like this chapter and I also hope I'll manage to write the next chapter before long. Also, I'm quite glad since the chapters are becoming longer and longer, which means It's becoming easier for me to write and keep up with the story.**

 **Enjoy !**

 **Ottawa**

The redhead crouched on the rooftop of the small building and looked down. The street, though not particularly big, was busy and crowded. Mostly shops could be found there, with a few houses and two bars. Kim oriented her gaze straight to one of them at the end of the street, right at a crossroads. She felt her fists tighten. _Finally_.

She had spent the last four days following Shego's tracks since the incident at the warehouse. She had been able to follow the blood trails at first, but her luck had quickly run out. After all, Shego was an experienced criminal. It wasn't a surprise that she would cover her tracks and that included bandaging whatever part of her body that was spilling blood. Kim had actually lost her near the Canadian border. So she decided to ask around. But the teen had been careful: she had disguised herself to avoid Shego hearing about a young redhead asking about a woman with green hands. It had taken some time, but she had finally come across some useful information. A woman similar to the description she gave everytime she asked for the villain had apparently been spotted in Ottawa, where she currently was. Being even more careful than before, Kim had searched through the whole town, asking around again, observing from the rooftops and concealing herself within the crowd. And now, she had found her. Actually, she had found this place three hours ago. But somehow, for some reason, she hesitated. She didn't know if it was because she feared Shego might have found out and was expecting her or if she simply didn't know how to handle the upcoming fight. But she felt really uneasy about all of this.

Kim shook her head. She couldn't falter now. It was just Shego. What was so different from the other times ? _She killed Ron, did you forget already ?_ She shrugged. She couldn't lose her focus. Not now. She took a few deep breaths and swiftly strode forward. She began to climb down the building before jumping half-way down and landing gracefully on the street. The people walking along the street were too busy chatting to notice the young girl who had just dropped from a two-store building. Keeping her eyew on the bars door, she crossed the road. She stopped in front of the entrance to the establishment. This was it. She exhaled deeply and walked in.

The inside of the bar was well lit. There were tables all around the redhead. There were booths on each side of the room, each consisting of a table with two small couches facing each other. The counter stood right in front of the door, with a waiter behind it serving drinks to some clients who were discussing something about a football match. Kim carefully looked around her. She quickly spotted a familiar figure in one of the booths to her right. Her heart suddenly began to race. Before entering the bar, she had decided to handle the whole situation as calmy and discreetly as possible. But these thoughts vanished from her mind as soon as she saw a pale hand grabbing the glass in front of it and lifting it to what probably was a thirsty mouth. Almost running, the teen walked rapidly towards the said table and stopped beside the woman sitting on the couch.

"Took you long enough."

Kim didn't answer and just sat on the opposite couch, facing her nemesis for the first time in weeks. When Shego put down her glass though, Kim couldn't help but widen her eyes. For a second, she almost felt sorry for her enemy.

The woman was disguised. That's why Kim didn't notice her bad shape before looking at her from the front. She had dyed her hair blonde and cut it. It now only reached her neck. She had also changed clothes, wearing a white top with a green logo – old habits die hard – and a pair of black pants. A brown jacket was at her side on the couch. But the most surprising was the make-up: her skin, usually so pale that it looked green, was now more coloured, almost pink. She had even put lenses to change the colour of her eyes. She had applied the make-up to her arms too. Now that Kim was looking at her, she wondered how she had been able to recognize her. _I guess I know her too well after all these years of fighting._ But that wasn't what had troubled Kim.

Even the details of the disguise couldn't hide the signs. Her eyes were red, probably from tiredness, and were oddly wide, as if Shego was trying not to let them close. The rest of her face looked pretty much intact. But what was disturbing was the fact that she was actually missing an ear. The right one, to be precise. The woman had covered it with bandages and had let a few strands of hair over it, but it was still easy to see if you paid attention. Plus, the bandage was red, obviously from the blood leaking out of the wound. Kim then noticed her arms. Without the jacket's sleeves covering them, she could see many bruises, cuts and even burn marks. One in particular seemed really nasty, running from her wrist to her elbow and being a dark shade of purple. Small red pecks on her white top could also be seen. She probably had more cuts on her body. Finally, the teen looked up and locked eyes with the villain. She wondered what had happened.

 _It doesn't matter. She killed Ron._

She froze. Her gaze became cold. What a fool she was. A few bruises and wounds and she already felt pity for her nemesis ? Heh, right. _Keep thinking of Ron. This is for him. She deserves it. Everything of it._ Exactly. Whatever happened to her, she deserved it. And she, Kim Possible, wasn't going to feel any compassion for this bi –

"Lost your tongue ? You're usually more talkative. Is my outfit troubling you ?"

Kim smiled coldly.

"My tongue's still there. I was just thinking how much I'd love to widen all those cuts on your arms."

"Now that's the Kimmie I know ! But seriously now, you sure took your time. Was that rooftop over there really comfortable ?"

Kim frowned. How did she know...?

"Come on, I know you're good at tracking people and everything, but you still have a lot to learn when it comes to concealing yourself."

The teen opened her mouth, ready to respond to the teasing, before mentally slapping herself. _Don't lose your focus, damn it !_

"Shut up. Let me do the talking. You'll talk when I tell you to."

"Ooh, you kiss your mother with that mouth ?"

"I said _shut up_."

This time, Shego kept quiet. She shrugged. She knew why the teen hero was here. After all, she had waited for her. She wasn't naïve enough so as to think she would be able to escape the young girl indefinitely. She took a sip of her drink and waited for the redhead to start talking.

"You know why I'm here. I want to know _everything_. Start talking."

"And what will you do after that ?"

"That's none of your concern. But I can assure you, it won't be pretty. So hurry up and tell me everything."

Shego sighed. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. She opened them and looked directly into the teen's eyes.

"I'll tell you. But trust me Princess, you won't like it one bit."

"I'm way past that point, now. Because of you and Drakken."

"I know." The older woman paused. "I'm sorry. About what we've done. But it wasn't our fault."

"This isn't a good start for you, Shego..."

"I know. But you gotta hear the whole story."

Honestly, Kim didn't know why she wasn't pummeling her enemy's face with her fists. She had wanted to find her for days, desiring to beat her up until she'd bleed out...So why was she just sitting here, talking to her like an old friend ? She shrugged. _Whatever. Either way, I need to hear what she has to say. When she's done, if I don't like it, I'll just have some fun with her. Like good old times._ She focused her eyes on Shego again. She saw her take a deep breath and got ready for the tale that was coming.

"It all started some weeks ago. About ten days before you came to the hideout." Kim tensed up as she recalled the events of that day. "Drakken was excited about this new project he had..."

"What project ?"

"I don't know, Princess. He could be quite secretive when he wanted to. I guess it was a sign he was getting better at all this plotting evil schemes thing. Either way, he wouldn't tell me anything about it. He just was really passionate about it, he worked on it every day and there were even nights when I heard him in his office. To be honest, I had never seen him that much into a project."

"Why all the fuss about this project ? He should have known we would have stopped it."

To Kim's surprise, Shego shook her head, a smug smile appearing on her tired face.

"I don't think so, not this time. The way he talked about it...He was convinced this would give us a strong, definite advantage against you." Her smile slowly faded away as she plunged deeper into her memories. "Then, one day, I woke up to a really strange sensation. Have you ever waken up feeling like your body is moving on its own ? Like you don't really have any control over it ?"

"Sometimes, yeah, when I'm really tired even after sleeping. What does this have to do with everything ?"

"Well, it was exactly that feeling, without the tiredness. Truth is, I really didn't have any control over my body anymore. Well, it's not exactly true. I _did_ control my body, but I didn't control my mind."

"Don't try to confuse me here. What the hell are you trying to say ?"

"You remember the time when Drakken implanted a chip on you and me so that we would obey his every order ?" Kim nodded. "Well, it was the same. With some differences: I was totally conscious the whole time and I remember everything that happened while I was being manipulated."

"Wait...So you're saying Drakken put a chip inside you to manipulate you ? Why would he do that ?"

"I never said it was Drakken's doing. The thing is, he was under the same influence as I was. He had a chip too." Shego paused. Kim could feel the frustration building up inside her nemesis. "I still can't understand how it happened or who did it. All I know, is that a voice kept talking inside my head, giving me orders and telling me what to do. And I did it. Or better said, my body did it, even if I didn't want to. I'm guessing Drakken was having the same thing."

"How can you be so sure it wasn't Drakken ? After all, you were supposedly controlled. How could you know that it wasn't him ?"

Shego's eyes hardened. She gave a fierce look to the teen before answering.

"I spent years working with him. I know – I knew him. Even if he acted the same as usual, there was something different about him. The way he moved, the way he talked. It just seemed...abnormal."

Kim instantly thought back to that fateful day. She focused on her memories of her fight with the pale-skinned henchwoman. Her movements had seemed quite slow at the time, at least slower than usual. Could she be telling the truth ? Maybe she _was_ being controlled...That would explain it. But not everything.

"Your explication is a bit too easy. How do you explain everything that happened ? And if you were controlled, how did you get free ? I suppose you are now, otherwise this place would be swarming with henchmen from whoever was manipulating you...If what you're telling me is true."

"Heh, I guess it looks that way...Well, during the days before you came to the lair, the voice made us do different tasks. I don't know everything Drakken did. I'm guessing he was being told to work on the laser-thingies and the chemicals I was forced to steal..." Kim couldn't help but scoff at those words. Not like she needed to be forced to steal anything. But Shego ignored her. "I didn't even know you were coming that day. If the voice knew, it never told us anything. It just gave us instructions and we obeyed." She paused before talking again, this time with a softer voice. "I didn't know about the bomb. I discovered it at the same time you did, when Drakken and I were escaping. And I couldn't do anything." Another pause. "I'm sorry."

The villainess had lowered her gaze during her tale. She looked up, only to see a tear roll down Kim's cheek. Almost at the same moment, she felt a sharp pain run through her leg. She resisted the urge to look under the table, focusing on the teen's face, which was now very close to hers.

"Don't you dare say that again. You don't get to feel sorry about it. You don't get to _regret_ it. You don't get to act like the victim. _You_ killed him. Am I clear ?"

Shego looked into her eyes. For the first time, she felt a shiver of fear run down her spine because of Kim. Slowly, she nodded. The sharp pain remained in her leg, telling her that the girl was keeping her boot pressed against her limb. She sighed and went on with her tale.

"Alright. After...that, nothing made sense anymore. You would think that the voice would have ordered us to steal all the money in the world, precious materials, powerful and destructive inventions...But nothing. It just made us perform small robberies, stealing jewels and small amounts of money." Kim nodded. She had thought the same thing when Wade had told her about the evil duo's activities while she was...well, taking a break. "It was really weird, you know ? Not having you come after us...For me, at least. You know how I enjoyed our fights."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't think it will happen anymore after I'm done with you. But before that, tell me...if everything you're saying is true, how did you escape the mind control ?"

Shego shivered. Kim noticed she was beginning to shake. She pressed her boot harder against the woman's leg: she didn't want her to breakdown. Not now. She wanted answers. Shego exhaled deeply and began to talk, her eyes focused on the table.

"Well, if you're here now, that means you found the warehouse and what was inside."

"You mean Drakken's corpse ?"

The words slipped out of her mouth without her even realizing it. She saw Shego's eyes look up and lock onto her own. What she saw in them was something disturbingly familiar: hurt and sadness. She instantly felt regret over her words. But she quickly dismissed it. She refused to feel pity for her enemy. Not now, of all times. With a single look, she urged Shego to keep going.

"...Yeah." She paused. "I guess we both had served our purpose. The voice didn't need us anymore. We had already spent a week in the warehouse. We were just sitting on the floor, doing nothing. Then, one day, it spoke. It just said two words. ' _Kill Drakken_ '." Shego's shoulders began to shake. "So, my body just stood up. It walked and turned to face him." Tears formed in her eyes. "I suppose the voice told him to kill me, because he was facing me too and he had a...a gun in his hand." Her voice broke. A small tear slowly fell down her cheek, leaving a wet trail behind. Shego didn't notice it. "You know what's almost funny ? I'm sure you've noticed that during our last fight my movements were not as fluid as usual. That's because the chip basically makes the person it's implanted in totally submissive. That means that the movements, the reflexes, the instincts, the reaction time, everything is slower, even if for a fraction of second. I'm sure the voice was hoping that Drakken and I would kill each other. The problem is, even with the chip, my movements were slightly faster than his." Tears were now falling without restraint on her face. "I shot my plasma first. It reached him. That's what saved me. The impact deviated his gunshot. So, instead of my abdomen, the bullet reached my ear and blew it away. But the funnier part comes now: when my ear came off, I was freed. I could move again. I guess the chip was implanted in or behind it. The thing is, by trying to kill me, Drew actually saved me." She had used her former boss' true name without realizing it. Tears kept falling silently while her body shook all over. "I went to him. But he was already dead. I couldn't find any pulse. He was just lying there, pain all over his face. There was nothing I could do. So I did what I had to do. I searched for my ear. I found what was left of it. It still had some traces of the chip glued to it. So I threw it into the sea and I left. And now you've found me."

Kim kept silent. She was petrified. She was at a loss for words and acts. Her mind was on the verge of being flooded by a wave of pity, compassion and sadness towards Shego. She just couldn't believe it. Of course, a small voice kept telling her that all of it could be fake, that those were lies to manipulate her. But she knew it wasn't. And it wasn't just because she had never seen Shego cry before. It was all about her. Her voice, her eyes. All the hurt that seemed to flow out of her body. Kim herself felt her eyes starting to tear up.

But it soon changed into a dark anger. She was so angry. At Drakken and Shego for killing Ron. Even if she believed Shego's story, she couldn't just forget that they were the ones who did it, manipulated or not. She was angry at the voice, for causing all of this. She was angry at herself, for not being able to save Ron. But more than everything, she was angry because she knew how Shego felt. _No. No, I don't._ _She was forced to kill Drakken. Someone made her kill a man that she appreciated, that she might have even loved. She watched him die because of her._ And that angered her beyond everything she had ever known. Her fists clenched.

 _I'll kill them. The ones who did this to all of us. I'll get them and I'll hit them until I'm satisfied. And then I'll hit them again. And again. And again. I'll kill them, even if it's the last thing I –_

"Hey there, you two cuties. Would you please be so kind as to put your hands up ? We have a few things to settle with you."

Mortified, Kim already knew what was there. She turned either way to face a group of eight henchmen, all of them pointing machine guns at both her and Shego. She slowly put her hands up,eyes looking straight at the guns aimed at her. _Damn it_. _I should have checked I wasn't being followed..._

"Hey, I said both of you ! Come on !"

From the corner of her eye, she saw Shego, face in her hands, shaking and sobbing. The henchman who spoke earlier, obviously the leader of the group, strode forward and grabbed the woman's arm.

"I told you to lift your hands ! Now do as I say or – "

He never finished his sentence. Kim seemed to see in slow-motion what was happening. In less than two seconds, Shego had grabbed the man's head so that it was now emprisoned in an armlock, which was threatening to break his neck at any moment. Her hands were glowing a strong, dark shade of green.

"Don't come any closer or your leader dies right here and now."

The henchmen hesitated. Kim gritted her teeth. _Damn, she's really ressourceful. And she's good, she kept up her act to lure them in..._ Her train of thoughts was stopped when she suddenly noticed the tears that were still falling from Shego's eyes. _What the..._

She didn't have time to finish. With a sinister sound, Shego brutally twisted the leader's neck, letting him fall to the floor with a surprised and pained expression on his face. His comrades, too shocked to react, just stood there. Shego smiled coldly, like a predator before it's prey.

"So sorry about that, my hand slipped. Now, stay right there, Princess. I've been waiting for this moment more than you'll ever know."

Kim gulped down.

 _Well, shit._

 **Somewhere**

Ron slowly opened his eyes. A grunt escaped his lips as he lifted his head to look around him.

The room was empty, like always.

He didn't know how much time had elapsed since the last time those guys used the machine on him. _I guess I've been unconscious the whole time, huh ?_ Sighing, he shook his limbs. He was still hanging by the same chains that hindered him from focusing his powers. He mentally smiled, though. He knew he had managed to let some of his energy flow out of the room and, hopefully, out of the lair. And he hoped someone would somehow spot it. He clenched his fists. He had no other hope. But it was better than nothing. And it was enough to get him to keep fighting and resisting to the torture. He would never give in. He knew that Kim was searching for him, somewhere. He could feel it. And that was the only motivation he needed. He had to be alive when Kim would come for him. There was no other choice.

"I see we're in a good mood today !"

Ron shivered. The voice, again. This couldn't be good news.

"Now, now, don't be so down all of a sudden ! I just came by to see how you were doing."

"What do you want ?"

"Ugh, you're not really nice, are you ? Well, I'm just looking for some distraction. I have this operation that's taking place right now and I must say I'm getting excited. If it all goes well, then all my plans will go smoothly."

"And if it doesn't ?"

"Damn, you really kill all the fun, don't you ? Well, if it doesn't, that's not a problem. I'll just have to take care of it in a different way. After all, brute force was never my thing."

"What's your thing, then ?"

"Well, as I told you last time, technology has never let me down before. You could even say it's what's made me what I am today. So yeah, I'm more a 'behind the lines' kind of person. But I reckon that you've got to get your hands dirty sometimes."

"Is that why you're here ? To 'get your hands dirty' ?"

The voice laughed. Ron frowned and took a second to think. Again, he had this feeling...Just now, the voice had seemed so strangely familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on whatever made him feel that way. Was it something that was said ? Or the way it was said ?

"Well, more or less." Pause. "You know these scenes in movies or in books, when the villain has captured the hero and the situation seems hopeless for the good guys, but somehow they still find a way to beat the bad ones and win ?"

"Are we really going to talk about that ? I'm more of a video games kind of guy, to be honest."

"Let me finish, you'll like where this conversation leads. Recently, I came to ask myself how they did it. I mean, of course, the author decides whether it's the good or the bad guys that win. But how does he justify it ? I found two reasons: first, there's determination. Of course, without it, whether you're the hero or the villain, you'll fail. And second, there's hope. No matter the book, you'll always see that the good guys have some kind of hope. Whether it's incarnated by someone, an item or just a goal, hope is the main motivation that leads to the villain's defeat."

"That's nice. Now, can you please finish quickly ? I'd like to get to sleep before you bore me to death with your story."

"You're helpless...As you wish. I'll get to the end as fast as I can." A light chuckle followed. "After that, everything became obvious. Hope is the first thing you have to break in your enemies. By killing it, you destroy all their will to keep going. That's the key to success. And that's what I'm going to do with you." An ominous feeling began to creep in Ron's mind. _I'm not sure I want to hear the next words..._ "These last few days, I've noticed something about you. You've grown strangely more determined and you keep resisting, even after I've used the machine twice on you. I understood it was that hope that you cling to that's allowing you to keep going. And the important question is: what is it that incarnates this hope ? The answer came easily." The voice paused, as if wanting to create a dramatic effect. As much as Ron hated it, he had to admit it worked. He already knew what was that answer, of course, but he still wanted to hear it. "Kim Possible. She's the problem. As long as she's out there, my plans are in danger. You were right the first time we talked. She's a threat. That's why I'm going to take care of her. You know the operation I was talking about earlier ? It's a mission to take her out for good. She won't bother me anymore after this."

Ron felt a knot form in his abdomen. _Kim...Damn it, please be safe._ But he didn't want to show his concern. He shrugged and looked straight at the loudspeaker in the upper corner of the room.

"Please. She's stronger that that. No matter how many goons you send after her, she will take care of them. And she will find me and kick your ass."

To his surprise, the voice laughed again.

"You know, I just realized that I still haven't told you about it. Oh man, I can be so forgetful at times..." The voice stopped to laugh yet again. "You see, there's a reason why she still hasn't found you. There's a reason why she isn't here right now, kicking my ass as you say. She thinks you're dead."

The words echoed in Ron's mind. _Huh ?_ The words grew stronger with each passing second, soon taking over his whole brain. _Dead ?_ _No, he's lying. I mean, I'm right here, I'm alive. She can't think that. I'm not dead !_

"You don't believe me ? They buried you and all. Well, of course, they didn't find your body after the explosion, but I don't think anyone expected to find anything after such a huge blast. If I recall, dear Kimberly spent some time at the hospital. Too bad she didn't die with the blast, though, it would have spared me some problems..."

Ron wasn't listening. His mind wandered back to the day of the explosion. Was it true ? Now that he thought about it, the blast was indeed really powerful. He recalled that everything became a giant ball of fire. He thought for sure he was going to die. But, at the last moment, some kind of protective bubble activated and envelopped him, protecting him from the explosion. He had fallen inconscious almost immediately because of the power from the blast. And then he had awaken here, in this room, all bruised and with numerous wounds on his body. Of course, if everything had been carefully planned, he guessed someone could have easily faked his death considering the circumstances. But still, he couldn't bring himself to believe it. Did she _really_ think he was dead ? He dropped his head. _How can she find me if she thinks I'm already gone ? It's over. I'm going to die here. And even worse, she's going to die too –_

He suddenly widened his eyes. _If she thinks I'm dead, why does she need to be taken care of ? Why is she such a big threat ?_ He looked up.

"It doesn't matter if she thinks that I'm dead."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. You'll die here, alone."

"Maybe. But the fact that you're so eager to take her out can mean two things. One, you have a personal grudge against her. But if it was the case, I guess she would be in my place right now, enduring different kinds of torture. That tells me I'm your objective." He paused. The voice said nothing. _Heh, looks like I'm right._ "So it only leaves one option. It's exactly as you said earlier: she's a threat to your plans. That means that she's closing in on you. Even if she thinks I died, she's still investigating and from what you're saying, she must be getting really close. So yeah, it doesn't matter. Because she will find you either way. And then she will find me. And you'll lose."

A long silence followed. Ron's heartbeat was louder than ever. He didn't know how the voice was going to react. He waited for an angry answer. That's why the sudden burst of laughter startled him.

"Wow, that's a surprise ! Who knew you had such deduction abilities ? But you're right. As much as it pains me, I have to admit that she's quite ressourceful. But I am too. That's why I always have a backup plan. Destroying your hope can be done in two ways. One, getting rid of Kimberly. If that were to fail...Well, I still have you, haven't I ? I just have to break you directly."

Ron forced a chuckle out of his mouth.

"Break me directly ? Come on, you've already tortured me several times. Plus, you said that you weren't into brute force. So, what could you possibly do to break me ?"

Ron didn't like where this conversation was going. He liked it even less when the voice talked again.

"I did say that. But you're forgetting two things: I have goons that _are_ into brute force. And I've only used physical torture until now. So, we'll switch to a mix of physical and mental torture. Actually, we'll switch right now." Ron froze. The door opened and he saw two men walk in. The first one was quite tall and very muscular, with arms almost as large as Ron's head. The second one was a bit taller but with a less impressive figure. His uniform still showed his muscles though, indicating that he was quite strong too. "You see, I'm a very tolerant man. All the henchmen I've recruited are here solely based on their loyalty, their professionalism and their abilities. I don't judge their tastes and preferences and they can do whatever they want on their free time. The two men in the room with you now are quite inclined towards men. And I mean sexually inclined."

Ron gulped down. His body was so tense it felt like wood. He sort of knew where this was going, but he didn't want to believe it. _There's no way he's going to do that_.

"There's a problem, though. Lately, this project of mine has needed a lot of time and focus. So they haven't had a lot of free time to have fun. So I decided to let them have some with you. They might be a little rough, but hey, with all the torture I've already iinflicted you, you should be used to it, right ?"

Ron was petrified. He saw the two men get closer to him in slow-motion. Eyes wide, he felt the chains that were holding him move so that he would get closer to the ground. Once his feet touched the ground, he saw the taller one go behind him. He felt him grab his pants and lower them to his ankles. That awoke his instincts. Struggling against the goon's hands, he tried to kick him and crawl away from him.

"Get away ! Don't touch me ! DON'T TOUCH ME !"

He managed to land a hit to the henchman's face. But Ron didn't see the other goon. The man grabbed his arms and turned him so that the teen was face against the ground. The other goon, his face still aching from the kick, grabbed the blonde's legs and spread them. Ron's eyes widened.

"No ! No, don't do it ! Don't, please ! DON'T !"

His eyes began to tear up. He heard clothes rustling. And then he felt it. Something hard was touching his leg. His face became pale. He jerked his legs, trying to land another kick, struggling, trying to stand up or move the man that kept him pinned to the ground. But with the chains restraining his strength, he couldn't do anything. He could only feel the man getting closer and closer, slowly reaching for his goal. Ron, too shocked to scream, could only mumble.

"No...please, no...Please. I'll do anything. Don't do it. Please..."

The man put his hands on Ron's bottom and spread his cheeks. This wasn't the first time he did this sort of thing. After all, that's why the boss had called him for this mission. Grabbing his manhood with one hand, he got it closer to the hole he was aiming at until it was resting against it. He could hear the boy sobbing under his colleague. Taking a deep breath, he thrusted his member inside in one, strong movement.

Ron's eyes bulged out of his face. His mouth was wide open, forming a silent scream of horror and pain. _No...Take it out...Please...Take it out ! Take it out ! It hurts ! I don't want that ! Please, anything but that ! Please..._ He could feel this thing slowly penetrating him, going deeper and deeper in his body, hurting him all the way. A tsunami of thoughts flooded his mind. Thoughts of pain, of hurt, of shock. It felt like a sword slowly stabbing him, ripping thoroughly through his organs, marking them with horrid pain.

Suddenly, it stopped. He still felt the man inside him, invading his body, but he wasn't moving anymore. For a brief second, Ron hoped. He hoped that was it. It was over. Now he would just take it out and leave him there. Then he felt him move back. Slowly taking it out. Ron's mind filled with hope. _Yes, please, take it out. Please, be done with it. Please, please, please !_ He couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when he felt almost the whole member being taken out. And suddenly, the man thrusted again, this time faster and harder. Ron was propelled forward. This time, he screamed in pain. _Why ? WHY ?! Why won't he take it out ? TAKE IT OUT ! PLEASE ! Leave me alone ! Stop this !_

Trembling, Ron could feel the member move faster and faster. He felt the man's hands land on his hips and lift them so that the teen was on all fours. The other goon moved to the side but kept grabbing onto Ron's arms to pin him down. The henchman inside him kept moving, each time with more brutality, each thrust bringing even more pain to Ron's body and mind. Tears were now falling freely from his eyes, flooding his face. Not able to do anything else, he closed his eyes. He tried to focus on anything, anything that could distract him from the monstrous meat that was ripping his body apart from the inside. But his mind came up with nothing. All that came to him was a feeling of powerlessness.

That's when he heard it.

 _Kim._

Her voice.

Eyes closed, he felt a small relief come to his mind. That's it. He would focus on her. On her voice. _Just think of her. Keep it up. Keep thinking of her. Nothing else matters. There's nothing else here. Only me and her voice. Talk to me, Kim. Keep talking._ He could hear it so close, so well...

His eyes jerked open. The pain came back like a tornado, sending any other thought away. His body hurt like never before. The goon kept thrusting, burying himself deeper in the teen everytime. But Kim's voice was stronger. Too strong. And Ron understood.

The loudspeaker. Kim's voice came from there. And it got louder with every passing second, creeping in Ron's mind, overflowing everything. But now it was different.

At first, it soothed him. But now, it echoed in his brain. It went everywhere. And it mixed with his thoughts. _No. Turn it off. Stop it. Stop, all of you ! STOP !_

"TURN IT OFF ! Shut up ! Shut up, shut up, shut up ! Turn it off !"

Ron was sobbing. He couldn't take it. No, he couldn't. He didn't want to hear it. Not anymore. Not her voice. Not with this. Not now. He screamed again. He didn't know whether it was from the immense pain he felt or from his rage. But he kept screaming, wanting to cover her voice with his.

Suddenly, he felt the man take his meat out. Ron's eyes widened. Was it over ? Were they done ? He froze again. _They. They're two. That was the first._ He felt two stong hands turn him. He found himself face up. And what he saw made him shake in fear.

The second goon was on his knees, between the teen's spread legs. But what petrified him was the look on the man's eyes. It was a look of pure lust. _Is that what I am ? Just a toy to satisfy them ?_ A strong hand reached out and grabbed Ron's face, forcing him to lock eyes with the henchman. The tears still let him see these dark eyes that seemed to invade his mind. Then, brutally, he felt a second meat penetrate him.

At the exact moment the goon's manhood reached the deep end of his insides, Ron gasped, eyes tearing up even more but still locked on to the ones in front of him. He couldn't close his eyes. He didn't know why, but he couldn't. He just kept staring into them, the pain quickly spreading all over his body while the man began to thrust with more violence than the other. And then, he heard it. Kim's voice, again. Laughing, talking, saying words with no sense at all, but still talking. The sound crept in his ears, his mind, overcoming everything else.

Ron broke.

His mouth gaped. His eyes stayed open, but his gaze drifted away, looking at nothing in particular. He stopped moving, stopped struggling. He just lied there, body shaking with every thrust from the man, his open mouth forming no words, no scream. His mind was blank. Nothing came through.

He didn't react while the goon kept moving his member inside him, raping his insides with everything he had.

He didn't react when the man took it out.

He didn't react when the two goons jerked off next to him.

He didn't move when their seed splattered his legs and shirt.

And he said nothing as they dressed themselves and got out of the room.

He didn't hear the voice when it talked through the loudspeaker.

"I guess you're tired, after all this effort. I'll let you rest for now. But don't worry, I'll be back soon enough."

Ron stayed where he was, lying on his back, half-naked. His eyes were as blank as his mind. His body seemed lifeless.

Only one thing echoed within his brain.

Kim's voice.

 **Ottawa**

Kim had spent some years fighting crime and specifically Shego. They were on par during their fights, even though the teen won most of the times. Still, what the young hero was witnessing was beyond any fight they'd had.

Before any of the goons could react, the older woman jumped forward and punched one of them so hard he was hurled to the opposite wall, carving a hole in it. He fell to the ground, unconscious, leaving a trail of blood on the wall. When the remaining six henchmen turned their gazes back to her, she had already started spinning on her left leg. The closest one barely had time to lift his gun before her right foot reached him right in the stomach, making him bend forward in pain. Shego forced his head further down with her hand at the same time that lifted her knee. A clear cracking noise told Kim the man was far from getting up any time soon.

Seeing the other five men holding their guns firmly and ready to shoot, the redhead quickly grabbed a chair next to the booth and hurled it in their direction. They dropped in time to avoid the projectile and got up, changing their aim to the young cheerleader. But Kim had been way faster. Following the chair, she'd run and jumped on a table before jumping again. Now in mid-air, she suddenly spread her legs, hitting two of the gunmen in the head and sending them to the ground. Meanwhile, Shego took care of another goon, grabbing him by the collar stabbing him with her bare, glowing hand. The man growled before falling limply to the floor. Now, only two remained.

Unfortunately, the effect of surprise had worn out. The two henchmen began to fire their arms, aiming at both women. Kim dived behind a table, managing to evade the bullets. Shego, on the other hand, was much closer to the goons. She backflipped and jumped around for a few seconds, distracting the two gunmen before diving behind a couch on the other side of the room. Kim saw her opportunity. She quickly ran out of her hiding spot and ran straight to the men still focused on Shego. When they noticed her, they turned and fired at her. But once again, the teen was faster. She had already dropped to the ground and, taking advantage of her momentum, she slid until she reached their legs, tackling them and sending them to the ground. She then quickly turned on her stomach and used her hands as leverage to lift herself up to her feet. Noticing one of the goons already reaching for his gun, she gave him a brutal kick to the head, rendering him instantly unconscious. Turning around to take care of the last one, she saw Shego already by his side, her hand glowing. Kim then looked around and felt a chill run down her spine.

The bar was empty. The few people that were there when had walked in had left as soon as they had seen the henchmen with their guns. Now, eight bodies were scattered all around the room. Kim knew that the three men she had taken care of were still alive. Badly hurt, that was for sure, but alive. She couldn't say the same for the others, though. The leader was dead, obviously. The stabbed goon was unconscious and his wound was still leaking blood. He was surely dying. The one that Shego had thrown against the wall was dead too. Shego had made sure of it while Kim tackled the last two gunmen earlier by shooting plasma right to his heart, killing him on the spot. Kim then noticed the last two. The one the older woman was standing next to had smoke coming out of a deep wound in his chest. Shego's doing, obviously. And the goon who took the her knee in the face was still on the ground, face down, a small pool of blood around his head. Probably still alive, but he would have severe brain damage. Kim shivered. _Damn. I'm sort of happy she never went this far with me._

She looked up at the woman. Her eyes were as cold as ice. But then, a look of hurt came upon her face. She began to wobble, as if shifting her weight from one feet to the other. Her knees suddenly gave up and Shego found herself on the ground, resting on her back, panting and breathing heavily. Kim's heart tightened. She ran to her side and crouched, already checking her body for wounds. She instantly noticed the red stain that was slowly getting bigger on Shego's shirt. Kim bit her lip and lift the garment up, only to see two holes in Shego's stomach. She hadn't managed to avoid all the bullets from the goons. Still, it was amazing that only those two had reached her. But the wounds looked bad. Blood was already starting to spill out. Shego's eyes were struggling to stay open. _Fuck, what do I do ? I can't let her die. I still need answers._ She reached for her Kimmunicator in her pocket and turned it on. Wade's face appeared, looking worried.

"Kim ! Is everything alright ?"

"Not really." Seeing Wade about to talk, she cut him off. "Don't worry, I'm fine, just a few bruises. But Shego's in a bad shape. I need transportation. But discreet this time. I don't want people to be able to track us. Plus, the police will soon be here and I don't think I'll be able to explain all of this." She paused, thinking deeply. "I need some place to take her to treat her wounds."

"Transportation is on its way. They'll wait for you behind the bar. Just use the back door and they'll be there in three minutes." He paused. "I'm guessing no hospitals, huh ?"

"No. Try to find me some doctor nearby. A trustworthy one. Then, when she's patched up, I'll take her home. My mom will treat her wounds better."

Wade said nothing. He didn't know yet what Shego had told Kim. He had mixed feelings about his friend bringing her arch-foe into her own home. But he trusted her. He looked at his computer screen.

"They'll be here in a minute. I've sent them coordinates, they know where to take you. Keep me posted ! And Kim, be careful."

"Yeah, I promise."

Kim cut off the comunication. Heaving, she lifted Shego up and took her in her arms. The woman mumbled incomprehensibly, but Kim paid no attention. As she started walking towards the back door, she noticed something near one of the goons. Crouching while holding Shego, she reached out with her hand and picked up what looked like a small electronic device. She put it in her pocket and began walking again. Right now, the priority was to save Shego. Kim shivered. _Who knew I'd do something like this someday ?_

She reached the back alley behind the door. Less than ten seconds later, a car pulled up in front of her, a middle-aged man behind the wheel.

"Get in ! We gotta get moving fast if we don't want the police to follow us."

Kim nodded and quickly but carefully put Shego on the backseat. As soon as she was seated, the man drove off, driving as though speed limitations didn't even exist. They had no time to lose.

 **Somewhere in Mexico**

The young girl focused. Eyes closed, she breathed calmly, with a steady pace. She needed to be careful not to miss anything. She was sitting in what seemed to be a tunnel, legs crossed under her, hands forming a strange sign.

She felt concern grow within her. Damn it ! She couldn't find anything ! She growled in frustration and opened her eyes. Clenching her fist, she tried to relax. _Calm down. You need to focus. Don't let your feelings disturb you from your task._ She exhaled deeply, closing her eyes again.

 _That's it. Feel the energy around you._ She could feel waves swirling around her. She smiled. Energy was everywhere. Now that she could detect it, she only needed to look for the one she needed. She exhaled again and slowly expanded her spirit, allowing her to feel all energy waves in a very large radius. Out of all the people who could detect and track down energetic signatures, she was by far the most capable one. If she wanted to, she could enlarge her detection range to the whole hemisphere, though with great effort.

Suddenly, she spotted small traces of energy. A small group, maybe ten people, moving fast and in her direction. Focusing, she identified all of the energetic signatures and let out a sigh of relief. _They made it. Good._ A smile appeared again on her face, only to become a frown almost instantly. _What's that ?_ She could feel another wave of energy. It was quite far away, but it was strangely strong. Gathering her strength, she focused harder than before, trying to see if she could identify it and even pinpoint it. _Come on. Talk to me, who are you ?_ She gritted her teeth. Sweat began to pour down her forehead. It was so far away and somehow it felt so close !

Then, it was gone. No energy wave left. It had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. The girl opened her eyes and fell forward, supporting herself with her hands. She was panting hard. Sweat was dripping from her face. Sitting back, she let out a light chuckle. She had a surprised look, as though she didn't believe what she had just found.

 _I've got to tell Sensei._

 **Three days later, Possible residence**

Shego opened her eyes only to close them right away, blinded by the light focused on her face.

"She's awake. Don't push her too much, she's still a bit weak."

Who was talking ?

"Don't worry about her. Even weak, she still packs a punch."

That voice, she knew. Kimmie. Grunting, she slowly got up. Feeling a sharp pain in her side, she lifted her shirt and saw stitches running over three centimeters of flesh. She winced before glancing around. Was she in a basement ? It sure looked like it. She was sitting on a bed in a corner of the room. Next to her, there was a small table with medical equipment all over it: bandages, syringes, scissors, scalpels...She could also see blood marks and a pair of medical gloves. Apart from that, the room was quite empty. There was a sink, where a tall woman with red hair was washing her hands. In front of the bed, Shego noticed a couch and also the young redhead that was looking at her with intense eyes.

"Where are we ?"

The teen stood up and got closer to the bed.

"At my place." Anticipating the next question, Kim answered. "This woman here is my mom. She treated your injuries." She paused. "A thank you would be appreciated, you know."

Shego almost scoffed. But she was indeed thankful. Kim could have let her die in Canada and she would have completely understood it. Instead, she had brought her here and her mother had saved her. She nodded and turned to Kim's mom.

"Thanks. You didn't have to do it."

The woman turned. Shego was struck by the strong ressemblance with her daughter, but mostly by the coldness in her eyes.

"Don't thank me. I'm a doctor. And to be honest, I don't like one bit having you here. Not after what you did. I'll let Kim deal with you. I'll come back in a few to check on your injuries."

And she went to the stairs and and left the room. Shego turned back to Kim. She could see the same coldness in her eyes. She sighed. _I can't really blame them._

"I guess I deserved that."

Kim kept quiet. She was deep in thought. Then, as she opened her mouth to talk, she was interrupted by a familiar sound.

She took out her Kimmunicator and answered Wade's call.

"Hey Wade. Got any news for me ?"

"Yeah, but not really good. Remember the device we found on Drakken ?"

"Yup." Seeing Shego's lost look, she quickly explained. "At the warehouse, we found Drakken's chip. We couldn't recover it and it was destroyed, but Wade was able to record its electronic signal to try and track it down." She turned back to the screen. "And ? What did you find ?"

"That's the problem. The one who created it is smart. Like, smart as hell. It doesn't emit a unique signal, which means that there are multiple sources. Basically, I've tracked it down to multiple locations around the world. It could be any one of them."

Kim sighed. Technically, she could go and check out all these places, but it would take days, if not weeks.

"Anything else ?"

"Yeah. After analyzing the signal, it turns out what Shego told you is true. It really was a chip meant for mental control. Just like the one created by Drakken a few years back, but enhanced. Looks like they were manipulated."

Kim nodded. That was all the confirmation she needed. Deep down, she already knew Shego was telling the truth. The way she spoke back in Canada...Maybe it was naïve of her, but she trusted her nemesis. Still, it was too bad Wade couldn't make any progress with the chip...

Her eyes widened. _Damn, I totally forgot about it !_

"Wait a sec' Wade, I'll be right back."

Leaving her Kimmunicator on the couch, she ran upstairs to her room. She quickly found the pants she was wearing in Canada. She searched in the pocket and found the device she had picked up back in the bar. She quickly returned to the basement.

"I completely forgot about it with the trip back to Middleton, but I found this small device in the bar next to a henchman. I don't think it's the same as the one we found implanted in Drakken, but could you examine it ?"

She put it on the screen and saw Wade begin an analysis.A few seconds later, the young genius looked at the results on his computer. Turning back to Kim, he looked excited.

"This is good ! It's not the same device, it's different !"

"How is this good ?"

"Well, it's nothing impressive, really, it's a chip meant for communication and all. But its electronic signature is different from Drakken's chip. Which means, if I can track it down, I can cross-reference both results to narrow down the locations ! It's still a long shot, but it's way better. I'll get right to it. I'll keep you posted !"

"All right."

Kim cut off the call.

"So...If we're lucky, genius boy here will find the ones who did this ?"

"His name's Wade, Shego. And yeah. Let's just hope he can find a location."

Shego nodded.

"How long have I been unconscious, by the way ? My memories are really fuzzy after the bar..."

Kim looked at her. It didn't surprise her that she didn't remember. Shego's injuries were bad. In fact, it was hard to believe she could already move a bit around, considering how serious the wounds were.

"Well, Wade found some transportation for us. It brought us to a doctor in the outskirts of Otttawa. You were in bad shape, so we had to stay over there for two days. I kept checking if the police or more henchmen had found us, but we were lucky. Eventually you got a bit better, but you still had a high fever. The doctor didn't have the necessary equipment to treat you fully, so we had to get here quickly so my mom could examine you. Wade found us a plane at night and we arrived here yesterday. You've been sleeping since then."

Kim kept looking at Shego. She wanted to ask her something, but she was reluctant. She didn't know how she would react and it made her a bit nervous. She fidgeted with the bed's blanket.

"I'm sorry about Drakken's death."

Shego looked up at the teenager. She was surprised and a bit taken aback, but she quickly understood that Kim really felt that way. She laid back on the bed and sighed.

"Thanks, I guess. I should say the same thing for your sidekick...I mean, for Ron."

Kim just nodded, eyes still locked on to the blanket.

"You really cared about him, didn't you Shego ?"

The older woman didn't answer right away. She seemed lost in thought. Kim looked up and was surprised to see a smile appear on Shego's face. Not a cruel, nor a smug one. A genuine smile. _Wow. That's something I didn't think I'd see._

"Yeah, you could say that." She paused. "You know, when I think about it, you don't know how I met him, don't you ?"

"No, I don't." Shego let out a small chuckle.

"Heh, it's quite funny, actually. It was about one year before you fought us for the first time. I had just finished a job for some businessman. He wanted information on some competitor's product. Iit was so easy, I swear. They barely had any security. Either way, I had just gotten to the hotel. I went to my room, began pouring water in the tub to take a bath...And then I heard a crash. So I went back to the bedroom and there he was. Drakken had literally crashed into my hotel room with his hoverboard. I was so _furious_. Here I was, trying to relax after a job well done...And some douche just crashed into my hotel room ? So I went up to him, I grabbed him by the collar and I started yelling at him. And yet, he didn't beg. He just smiled and he looked at me before saying that he had been looking for me. I was like 'what the hell are you talking about ?' And he just went on, saying he had heard of me from a colleague of his and he wanted to recruit me for an indefinite time. I was still angry, but I must say the situation was hilarious. The dude wants to recruit me and he thinks the better way to do it is to crash his flying machine into my hotel room ? So, as you can guess, I refused. "

"How did he convince you then ?"

"Well, I don't think it will surprise you, but he just took out a bag from his hoverboard and he showed me what was in it. He had like a whole million dollars in there. And that was it. I've always liked money, you know ? And, if I'm being honest, I didn't really care who I worked with as long as I got paid."

"A million ? Wow. I guess he was quite successful as a villain before I got into the whole hero thing. But still, the money must have run out at some point, right ? So why did you stay ?"

"You're right. We kept spending money to recruit henchmen, to plan heists and also to build his inventions. Eventually, we ended up with nothing left. At first, I stayed because I could see he had plans, ideas. I mean, the guy had potential, you know ? His plans were a bit stupid, sometimes far too complicated...But still. So yeah, I stayed because I was thinking that he would be a good investment in the future." She paused to laugh. "Turns out he didn't. But by the time I realized that, it was too late. What would you know ? I grew to like the guy. Of course, he got on my nerves all the time, he was careless, he could be very stupid and all...But still. I'd gotten used to being around him and I had learned to somehow appreciate how he was. I kept taking jobs from other villains from time to time, but in the end I always came back." Another pause. "And Drakken gave it back, you know ? The appreciation, I mean. You see, in this world, people like me are just a contract. They're just people you recruit for a short period of time and when you don't need them anymore, you kinda just throw them away. This way of life suited me, it still does. But with Drakken, it felt different. You could see he was grateful that I stayed there, that I helped him with his plans, even when he didn't have money anymore. It was nice..."

Kim kept silent. Saying she was dumbstruck would be an understatement. Who knew Shego could have such feelings ? She really wasn't expecting all that. And she expected even less the question that followed.t.

"It was different between you and Ron, wasn't it ?"

Kim jumped at the question. She felt herself blush a bit. _Why am I blushing ? It's a totally innocent question !_ Shego smiled smugly and began to tease her.

"Look at you blush, Princess. Is there something I should know about this ? Or maybe you don't even know it yourself ?"

"Shut up, it's not like that !" Kim exhaled deeply, trying to calm her heartbeat. "Ron and I were childhood friends, that's all. We were very close."

"Very close, hm...?"

"I said not like that ! Ugh, seriously..." The redhead paused. Her look softened. "Yeah, it was different from you and Drakken. We got along from the moment we met. It was in kindergarten. I was being bullied by some boys from the class." Shego scoffed. Kim rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, I was being bullied by four years old. Really funny. Either way, Ron was the first who came to me and defended me against them. And we became inseparable. We've been together since then. We've always been close, we shared many things. You know, in some aspects he kinda looked like Drakken. He could be really stupid at times and he could get on my nerves...But we rarely argued. And even when we did, we couldn't stay mad at each other for more than a few hours." She paused, lost in her memories. "Actually, the last big argument we had was at the beginning of high school. I had started to spend some time with a boy. We weren't really dating, but we did quite a few things together. And well, I kinda pushed Ron aside. It bothered him and we got into this argument. After that, we didn't talk to each other for a whole day. It went better the next day. He was so used to dropping by my place so that we would go to school together that he did that day too, even if we weren't talking. We started walking together towards the school and at some point, we just burst out laughing. And it was all fine after that."

"I'll be damned...Tell me why you weren't a couple again ? I mean, hell, it's so obvious even I can see it !"

Kim blushed even more.

"Stop it, you don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yeah ? Let's clear things up: you're childhood friends. You've been together forever, blah, blah. First proof: as you start going out with some dude he becomes jealous because you spend less and less time with him and more with the other boy. You want more ? All right, second proof: he follows you on your missions, even though he's ten times more vulnerable than you in these situations. Plus, he agrees to do the most dangerous part, the distraction. He agrees to all of this, just to help you. And I'm sure he did it just so that you didn't have to do everything by yourself and so that he could protect you in some way. Plus, he was always worried about you during your missions, that was obvious. Tell me if I got anything wrong."

Kim stood there, face fully red, mouth open. She quickly closed it and chose to answer as emotionlessly as possible.

"Whatever. I don't even care about what you're saying." Then, without letting Shego cut her off, she went on. "I'm tired, I'm going to lay down. You focus on getting better. I might need to ask you some more questions later."

Shego watched the teen walk up the stairs. As she reached the door, the woman spoke, loud enough so that Kim would hear her.

"Keep telling yourself that. You know I'm right."

Blushing yet again, Kim walked out of the room.

 _Fuck, Shego.._

 **A few hours later**

Kim suddenly woke up, eyes wide.

Feeling strange, she went to her bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was as red as her hair. _Why is my face so red ?_ Maybe it was her dream. She had slept nicely, better than the last few nights. She thought back, trying to remember what she had dreamt about. Then, she blushed even more. It was about Ron.

Damn that Shego, she had gotten to her with her funny ideas before..But still, she couldn't shake off the images of her dream. Her and Ron, escaping alive but both hurt from the explosion in Drakken's lair. Them going to the hospital, spending time together in their rooms while they recovered, talking and laughing...kissing...

She hid her face in her hands. _Ugh, stop it ! Even if I felt that way, it wouldn't matter now that he's –_ Her body tensed. Well, it was true. He _was_ dead. What was the point of figuring her feelings out now ? Either way, it was too late. It would only hurt her all the more. Still, did she really...?

A sound interrupted her train of thoughts. She recognized her Kimmunicator. She then realized that was the sound that had woken her up. She quickly ran to her bed and picked up the device. She turned it on.

"Wade ?"

"Kim ! I've got news, and it's important !"

Kim felt her heart race. _Finally_. Did he have a lead ? She resisted the urge to know for a few seconds. She ran back the stairs to the basement, only to find Shego reading a magazine. The older woman arched a brow when she saw the teen storm in the room, but said nothing as she noticed she had her Kimmunicator in her hand.

"Go, Wade."

"Well, I've finally tracked down the signal from the device you picked up in Ottawa. Like Drakken's chip, it brought me to several locations, but when I cross-referenced both results, it narrowed down to five locations."

"That's less than before ! It'll be way faster to check these places !"

"Wait, I haven't told you everything yet." Kim and Shego listened closely. "Since there were only five locations, I decided to scan the energetic and electronic signals that emerged from those places. " He saw that Kim was going to ask a question and cut her off. "I hacked a satellite. Nothing bad, nobody noticed me." He ignored Shego's scoff and went on with his explanation. "In most places, nothing stood out. But there was one where I detected some strange energetic signature. So I compared it to some that I've recorded on my computer over the years, to see if my system could recognize anything. And it did ! You'll never guess what it was."

"Wade, no offense, but I'm not really in the mood for dramatic pauses."

"Fine.." The young genius sighed. "You remember a few months ago, when you went to Japan and you found out about Ron's training in Yamanouchi ?" Kim nodded, not seeing Shego's confused look. "Well, after that, I...kinda recorded the energetic signature from the Sensei's powers. I figured it could be useful one day, if we ever needed to contact or look for him and Yori for some reason. So I kept it in my computer's memory. Turns out, the energetic signals I spotted earlier are similar to the ones from Yamanouchi !"

"Wait, you mean...Are you implying that Monkey Fist is behind this whole plan ?"

"That's not possible", Shego said. "He's been out of the villain business for some time now. Last I heard, he was in Norway looking for some ancient monkey species that live under very cold temperatures." She saw Kim's surprised expression. "What ? One of the first things I did when I arrived in Canada was to ask my informants about the other villains, in case we were being targeted by a colleague. Turns out, none of your known enemies are involved."

Kim looked at Shego for a few seconds, then shrugged and focused again on Wade.

"So, what do you think Wade ?"

"Well, I doubt it's a coincidence. Either it's a new enemy linked to Yamanouchi and those monkey powers or our oponent has prisoners from the school. In any case, there's a connection to Japan, that's for sure. But going back to what I was saying, I know where this guy's hideout is !"

"Really ? Where is it ?"

"On an island near New Zealand. It's small and last I checked, it was a desert area. I'm not so sure of that now, but I can't get images of the landscape. Looks like they have a jammer or something."

"You rock, Wade. When can you get me a plane to go there ?"

"Hold on, Princess." Kim glanced over at Shego, who was now standing next to the bed, wincing a bit at the pain in her side. "You're not thinking of going there without me, are you ?"

"Shego, you still haven't fully recovered. And we can't waste any time."

"Stop it. I _need_ to go. I have to be there when you get him. I want to kick this guy in the stomach and see just how much pain he can stand. There's nothing you can do to stop me from coming with you."

Kim withstood her look for nearly a minute. She knew Shego was right. She couldn't hinder her from coming along. She sighed.

"All right. But my mom will check your injuries to make sure you're in good shape." A smug smile appeared on her face. "After all, I'm sure you don't want to be dead weight, don't you Shego ?"

"Heh, if I ever become dead weight, you'd better kill me there and then. But fine, call your mom."

Turning back to the Kimmunicator's screen, Kim smiled.

"You heard that, Wade. Make the plane wait until tomorrow morning."

"As you wish. Until then, I'll try to contact Yori, see how they're doing in Japan. If this is about monkey powers, we might as well ask them what they think of this whole situation."

"Good thinking. Keep me posted !"

And with that, the communication ended. After a few moments of silence, Shego cleared her throat.

"So, tell me something...What's the deal with Ron and those freaky monkey powers ?"

 **Somewhere in Mexico, a few hours earlier**

The cave was large enough to welcome a bit less than a hundred people. Right now, it was occupied by fifty teenagers dressed in black kimonos. But the most surprising was how well the large group seemed to be organized.

The cave was separated in three distinct areas. The first one was filled with blankets and pillows. The second one was where the majority of the teens was at that moment and was a training ground. The young boys and girls were practicing martial arts but to any outsider, it would have looked like an elegant, graceful dance. Their movements were fluid and there was no hesitation in their gestures nor their focus. The last area was located at the far end of the cave and was now currently occupied by a small group of people who were discussing.

"Sensei !"

The whole group turned their heads towards the young girl that had just spoke. She stood mere meters away, panting. A slender figure stood up from the group. She had only one arm, her right one. The other had been cut clean weeks ago when their school had been burned to the ground. The young girl bowed respectfully. Then, Sensei spoke.

"What is it, Yukitomo ?"

"Sensei, there's another group of students coming this way ! They will soon be here."

Yukitomo paused, exhaling deeply. Her Sensei stood still, waiting for her to catch her breath. She guessed the young girl still had information. Indeed, a new group of students reaching the cave was good news, but it didn't need her to rush here to warn them. Once Yukitomo had calmed down, Seisei spoke.

"Anything else ?"

"Yes. While searching for other students that would be coming here, I detected a strong energy far from here."

"And ?" Yukitomo saw her Sensei frown. Was she concerned ?

"I managed to identify it before it vanished. I'm confident that it was Stoppable-san."

Silence fell upon the small assembly. For a few long seconds, nobody said a word. Then, Sensei spoke.

"Are you sure ?"

"Yes. He's the only one I know to have such a strong energy. And you know my abilities allow me to recognize energies I've come across before. It's the exact same one."

Sensei breathed deeply.

"Where ?"

"An island, near New Zealand."

She waited for her Sensei to ask more questions. Seeing she wasn't needed anymore, she bowed again before going back to the entrance of the cave to resume her spotting mission. The Sensei stood still for a few seconds. Then, she looked at the teens sitting around her.

"Tell everyone to get ready. We'll move out in two hours. Let the students that are coming rest until then. They'll need their strength. Taika." One of the students stood up.

"Yes, Sensei ?"

"Go to the closest town. There's a harbor there. Ask for Matteo Suàrez. Tell him Sensei needs a ship to New Zealand. He'll make arrangements. We'll meet there as soon as we can." The boy nodded. "Go."

In a flash, he was already running out of the cave. He was soon followed by the other teens, who were now scattering in the cave to notify the other students of their imminent departure. Sensei then turned around and walked to a small table behind her. She grabbed the map that had been spread there when they had arrived and examined the route they were going to take. After some calculations, she rolled up the piece of paper and put it in her backpack. Pausing for a moment, her memories went back to just a few months ago, when a young American boy had come to their help.

A sad smile appeared on Yori's face.

 _I'm sorry, Stoppable-san. It looks like we need your help again..._

 **Somewhere  
**

The man chuckled. _Man, how I love seeing this !_

He was currently sitting in his office, looking at the monitors on his desk. They showed him images of th cell where his prisoner was being held. Young Ron was currently having his powers absorbed by the machine. But this time was _so much more_ satisfying than the others. Because right now, Ron was broken.

His plan had worked. He had to admit he was a bit reluctant at first to have him raped. Not that the act disgusted him: he just wasn't sure of the strength of the consequences. But now that he saw his prisoner without any reaction at all, he was beaming with joy. Finally, he had destroyed all of his hope. He was also glad he'd thought of making him listen to his dear Kim's voice during the act. That was the kind of torture that he liked the most.

And the results were _perfect_ ! Even while his energy was being taken from him, Ron didn't make a sound. He didn't scream, didn't whine, didn't cry, didn't resist. He did nothing: he just stared blankly, lifelessly at the ground. His mind was completely fractured. _Hm, I wonder...Should I record it to watch it again later...? It's kind of relaxing to watch._

His thoughts were disrupted by a knock on his door. He clicked his tongue, annoyed at the sudden interruption.

"Come in." He waited until the goon had walked in the room. "I hope it's important."

"Sir, our radars have detected a plane coming towards the island. It's getting closer. What should we do ?"

"Already ? Tsk, they're earlier than expected...No matter. Get the surface-to-air missiles ready. Take them out as soon as they come within our range."

He stopped to think. He knew it was Kim Possible. Shego was probably with her, too. He clenched his fist. The goons he had sent to Ottawa were supposed to take them out. Well, Shego was in fact the primary objective. After all, she had information that could be useful to the teen hero. Unfortunately, he had underestimated them. The whole team had been taken out. Only four were still alive, one with significant brain damage, the other three so badly hurt that they would be out of business for a few months. But it didn't matter. He could take them out now.

Then, an idea crept in his mind. What if he didn't take them out...? He could let them come, while he got ready to retreat in another lair of his. He could let them explore this hideout. Of course, they would eventually find Ron. That was the point. He grinned. _I wonder how she will react when she finds him in this state ? I'm sure it will be hilarious._ Plus, he had taken a lot of energy from the boy. He had enough to begin his search for the Shoi, the Han and the Yono. He turned to the goon, which had stayed in the doorframe, waiting for his boss' final orders.

"I've changed my mind. Get the weapons ready but do not take the plane down. Try firing some missiles, but be careful to miss them. I want you to delay them for a few minutes. Meanwhile, I want everyone to get ready to leave this base. We're going to our other lair. Get the planes and the helicopters ready." He pointed to the monitor, which now showed the goons exiting Ron's cell with the machine. "Leave the boy there. Now go."

The henchman left the room and closed the door behind him. The man turned back to his monitor and watched the screen for a few seconds. Then, he got up and quickly packed the few things he needed to bring with him. As he left the room, he couldn't help but smile.

 _This is going to be so much fun._


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi. So, here's Chapter 5 ! I'm really sorry this takes so much time, but my life is having its ups and (many) downs. I absolutely cannot say when the next chapter will be uploaded, I haven't even started writing it. There are many reasons: I have other projects that I am trying to work on (motivation keeps being a problem). Inspiration comes at times where I don't really expect it, sometimes I can write ten pages in a few hours and other times I can spend weeks, even months without writing a thing. And finally, as I said, I'm going through a bit of a rough time. I don't know when it will pass, I hope soon, but I can't promise much. Anyway, thank you for your support and again, sorry for making you wait.**

 **Please, don't forget to review this story and don't hesitate to send me messages if you have any questions or advice or opinions you want to share with me !**

 **I hope you will like this chapter.**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean**

"So, let me get this straight one last time."

Kim rolled her eyes. With a sigh, she turned to Shego and focused on what she knew the villain was going to say.

"On your first mission against Monkey Fist, Ron is affected by some weird monkey artefact that gives him the same freaky powers as the bad guy. He then trains those powers when he goes to a school in Japan for a week thanks to an exchange program. Then, you discover everything when he leaves with a girl from said school to hunt for Monkey Fist, which was just a few months ago. Am I getting it right ?"

"Yup, that's mostly it."

"I'm beginning to get tired of all those freaky mystical thingies and powers. Maybe I oughtta retire after all this is done..."

Kim scoffed. "You, retire ? Did my mom give you too much morphin ? Maybe you're still a bit light-headed there, Shego." Seeing the villainess arch a brow, she went on. "Come on, we both know you like crime way too much to just get out of all this business."

The villainess thought for a few seconds before grinning and answering. "Heh, I guess you're right. Plus I'd have to earn money legally...What a pain. And I wouldn't want to take your nemesis away, Princess."

Smiling smugly, Kim got up and approached the cockpit of the plane. They were currently flying over the Pacific Ocean, heading towards the island where Wade's analysis had detected the energetic signatures. Entering the small space, she leaned over to the pilot. "How long 'til we reach our destination, Mr. Stane ?"

"The island should just be entering our field of vision ! We'll be there in less than five minutes, so you'd better prepare your jumping gear !"

The teen nodded and went back to Shego. With a small hand sign, she motioned the older woman to start getting ready. Kim heard a slight groan coming from the vilainess as she stood up. _Tch, Mom didn't have enough time to heal her completely...Well, I guess it's fine. Even in this state, she can be pretty dangerous._ Turning her focus to her backpack, the young hero checked if everything was there. The parachute was correctly folded, her grappling hook was there as well as her Kimmunicator. There also was a small device that Wade had given her – though she didn't know what it was for.

Kim suddenly heard a loud noise and felt the plane shake. She quickly crouched to keep her balance and looked at Shego, whose hands were now green. The young girl went back to the cockpit to see what was happening. The pilot turned briefly towards her.

"It seems the island is firing missiles at us ! They missed us but I don't know if they'll fire again. What do we do ?"

Kim took a moment to think. Meanwhile, she saw another missile coming at them and braced for an impact that never came, as it exploded again to the left of the plane, causing it to shake again. _That's weird. How can they miss us ? We're in broad daylight and it's not like we're doing anything to evade the missiles...Maybe they just want to scare us ?_

"It's better if we jump now, Mr. Stane. I don't want you to endanger yourself anymore than that."

"Are you sure, miss Possible ? We could still fly a bit and get you closer to the island."

"I'm positive. Plus, we have the inflatable boat, haven't we ? We'll just have to row. It's not that far away. They seem to be avoiding us on purpose with their missiles, but I don't want to take any risks."

"Alright then ! If you're ready, open the door and jump as soon as you can ! I'll keep the plane steady. Go and good luck !"

"Thanks Mr. Stane ! I owe you one !"

Running to the back of the plane, Kim found Shego ready to jump. They exchanged a glance.

"I heard the pilot", said the villainess. Grinning, she pointed to the door. "Wanna go first ?"

The teen hero shrugged and grabbed her backpack. Opening the door, she motioned for the older woman to jump. Once Shego was falling to the ocean, Kim took hold of a small piece of plastic and pressed a button on the side. She immediately threw it through the door before jumping herself, seeing the boat slowly inflate.

The fall was short, but the water was not the warmest she had been in. Glancing up, she saw the plane turning around and slowly flying away. _Good._ She looked around and spotted the boat. Swimming towards it, Kim saw that Shego was already on it, waiting for her. As soon as the teen was on the embarcation as well, the pale-skinned woman expressed her thoughts.

"Now, I guess we gotta row to the island ?"

"Exactly. You're not going to complain, are you ?"

"Of course not. It's just a little warm-up before kicking these guys' ass, right ?"

Kim grinned and began to row on one side while Shego did the same on hers. While moving her hand, the young redhead was deep in thought. She was worried and had a bad feeling. _Why would they miss us on purpose with their missiles ? We were an easy target. They could have blown us to bits as soon as they had us on their radars. Were they waiting for us ? Are we walking into a trap ?_ She let out a small growl which Shego heard.

"What is it, Princess ? Already tired ?"

"Nah, just thinking about those missiles. Isn't it weird that they all missed ?"

"I get what you mean. What are the chances of them being really bad at taking down planes ?"

They both exchanged a serious glance.

"I don't like this. It really feels like we're walking right into a trap."

"Oh, look on the bright side, Kimmie. That means we'll get to hit a lot of people."

Kim sighed.

 _This is gonna get bad._

 **Load's Household**

Wade was currently following Kim and Shego as they headed towards the island. He noticed that they were now slower, but assumed they had jumped out of the plane, which was planned from the beginning.

A short sound catched his attention. Turning to another of his monitors, he saw that his latest try at contacting Yamanouchi had failed. It was the third time. He really was getting worried. If all this was indeed related to monkey powers, then Yori's help could be a strong advantage. But it was also possible that the school was already involved in the whole affair. Maybe they were already on the move ? Or maybe they had also been taken out, like...

Wade shivered. _No, I can't think of that now. If they won't answer, I'll just have to see for myself what's happening over there._ The young boy quickly glanced over to the screen showing Kim and Shego's movements, then focused on his second monitor. Faster than any other computer genius, he searched for satellites currently over Japan. As soon as he found one, he hacked into it, breaking through the firewalls and passwords as if they were made of thin air. Not bothering with all the data contained in the hard drives, he oriented the satellite's camera towards Yamanouchi's coordinates.

"Wade ? You there ?"

He turned back to his first monitor and spoke in his microphone.

"Yes Kim, right here. Everything all right ?"

"Yeah, you told me to call you as soon as we reached the island and here we are. What do we do now ?"

"Good ! Open your backpack. Remember the small device I gave you ? Take it out and place it on the floor. When it's done, press the yellow button on top of it."

He heard Kim do as he'd said through the microphone.

"It's done. What does it do ?"

"Remember I couldn't get a proper image or map of the island ?"

"Yeah, you said they probably had a jammer around here or something."

"Exactly. Well this little machine is analyzing the seismic vibrations of the island. With this data, it will create a 3D map of the whole land and even of the buildings on it. You'll need to use it again inside the lair though, otherwise I won't be able to guide you in there."

"Got it Wade. You rock ! How long does it take ?"

"Wait for it..." He paused and heard a bipping noise coming from his computer. "...And that's it ! Alright, I can see the lair...It doesn't seem to be that big, on the surface at least. Go north for two miles, then go right and you'll reach a side entrance. The roof doesn't seem to be very high, so maybe you can get there and make your way inside from there."

"You're the best. I'll keep you posted."

Wade heard the redhead end the communication. Turning back to his other screen, he focused on the pictures the satellite had taken. His eyes widened in horror. _What the hell happened there ?_

The pictures showed the top of the mountain where Yamanouchi was. Or what was left of it. The school was in ruins. Only the main building was still standing, though one half had been completely burned to the ground. The other half seemed to be slowly agonizing, with small wooden parts hanging by threads. The other buildings were almost totally burned down. The trees in the yard had fallen down as if struck by lightning and had crushed parts of the school under them. The whole place seemed to come out of a disaster movie.

Wade downloaded the pictures and opened them with a program that allowed him to enhance their quality. He zoomed in and instantly regretted it. He felt his eyes beginning to fill with tears. Looking up close at the pictures, he could see clothes. And in those clothes, bodies. At least two dozens. Wade couldn't see their faces, but he didn't need to. He knew they were children, teenagers like him and Kim.

And they were dead. Just like Ron.

His tears were now flowing down his face with no signs of stopping. The young genius couldn't avert his gaze from the horrendous scene before his eyes. His mind screamed at him to look away, to focus on Kim and Shego. But his brain seemed to want to memorize every detail, however small they may be. Every body, every weird angle formed by legs or arms, every black dress laying on the ground, near the fallen trees or buildings. Even with his enhancement program, Wade couldn't see the details of the bodies. But he somehow knew they all had been dead for a while. He could already picture the slowly decaying corpses, flies beginning to swarm all around them while their blood dried up and their skin slimmed, their bones becoming more and more visible –

"...Wade !"

The strong voice made the boy jump. He finally looked away from the pictures, focusing on the voice that spoke through his headphones. He could still feel the tears strolling down his cheeks but didn't wipe them.

"I'm here."

"What were you doing ? We're inside the lair. Your device is doing it's mapping thing again."

As soon as Kim ended her sentence, Wade heard the bipping noise.

"Yeah, I got the map right here. You're in a long corridor parallel to the one leading to the main entrance. If you follow it, you'll end up in a large room with three doors and another corridor. Tell me when you get there."

"Got it. You sure you're alright ? What were you doing ? I called you four times before you answered."

Wade forced himself not to look back to his other monitor. He tried to calm his breathing.

"I'm fine. I was just focused on trying to contact Yori and the others from Yamanouchi."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that ! Did you get a hold of them ? It would be great it they could help us with all this."

Wade opened his mouth. _Do I tell her ?_ _No, I can't. She'll lose focus on the mission. I can't tell her, not now. I'll tell her I'm gonna try to hack a –_

"...Wade ? What is it ? You're never this silent." He closed his mouth, not knowing what to say. "What happened, Wade ? Tell me."

He briefly thought of lying. But Kim's tone held the slightest bit of menace. It was enough to convince him.

"I...Yamanouchi won't help us, Kim."

He heard the redhead telling Shego to stop.

"What do you mean ? Did something happen ?"

Wade breathed in and out slowly.

"I couldn't contact them. So I hacked a satellite and took pictures of the place."

He could feel Kim holding her breath.

"It's gone, Kim." His voice was getting weaker with every second. "They destroyed it. They burned it to the ground. It's all gone."

"And the students ? What about them ? Were they there ?"

"They're dead." His voice was now so low Kim didn't hear him at first. "I said they're DEAD, Kim !"

For a few seconds, Wade heard nothing. Then, a growl came to him through his headphones. The voice he heard right after was colder than ice and at the same time burning with fury.

"Thanks for the information. I'll talk to you later."

And with that, the communication ended. As if it was a signal, Wade began to cry harder, sobbing weakly. He didn't even know most of those students, so why, why did it affect him this much ? It's true that never before had people been killed by the villains Kim usually fought against. Was it really this hard to take ? Or maybe it was because of Ron's sudden death only weeks ago ? Even Drakken's dead body hadn't had such an impact on him. Maybe because at the time he thought like Kim that he was the mastermind behind all of this...Wade let out a loud cry. Thankfully, his mother wasn't home. Otherwise, the young boy would have had to explain everything to her. And, truth be told, he wasn't even sure he could speak at that moment.

Tears still flowing down his face, Wade turned to the screen which showed the satellite pictures of Yamanouchi. He quickly shut down the program and breathed slowly in and out.

Sadness and shock progressively became anger and hatred. He still couldn't believe someone was capable of such cruelty. _We'll show them. Wait and see how fearful we can be when we want to._

Eyes gleaming with fury, he wiped his tears and turned back to his screen. Now that he had the map of the lair, he was able to locate the electronic signals emitted by the building. He would infiltrate the security system to ease the girls' route. He promised himself that no guard or goon would even come close to them. He cracked his hands and got to work.

Hell would freeze over before he'd let Kim get killed too.

 **An island in the Pacific Ocean**

One could think a desert island wouldn't have much to hide in broad daylight. Except for a few trees and some vegetation, there were only small rocky hills that gave the land a wavy look. The building that stood in the middle of the island seemed to be the only place where someone could hide.

And yet, at the same moment Shego and Kim were advancing inside the lair, twenty young boys and girls were running towars that same lair, going from a tree to another, to a hill then to a rock, all without being seen. The only things that indicated their presence on the island were two boats hidden under the shade of two trees.

Yori lifted her hand. Nothing seemed to happen. But if one were to look very closely, one would notice small traces of black clothing there and there, up a tree, behind a rock, a hill or a tree. She looked at Taïka, who was crouching beside her. Just like all the others, he wasn't the slightest bit tired, although they had spent the day before and the night running, then navigating on a boat until they had reached a small harbor in New Zealand. Then, Yori had chosen twenty students to accompany her to where they had spotted Ron. The others were staying near the harbor and instructed to gather as much information as they could about the small island and to keep the place safe for when the group of students led by Yori would come back.

The young girl turned to Yokitomo, hidden a few meters behind her near a large rock. The younger ninja was sitting with her legs crossed, a focused look on her face and her eyes closed. After a few seconds, she opened them and quickly joined her Sensei behind the hill.

"Did you find Stoppable-san ?"

"I think so. I felt a large number of energies at the far end of the island. It's a large group but I couldn't identify them. Inside the building, there are two other energies. One of them belongs to Kim Possible I believe but I can't recognize the other one. There is a weird thing though. There seems to be a space inside the lair, a room that blocks my abilities. I can't detect anything inside. I'm guessing Stoppable-san is there, as I couldn't detect his energy anywhere else on the island."

Yori nodded.

"Very good." She turned to Taïka. "Take all the students with you and go to the far end of the island. Try to identify the large group there but don't engage them. Find out where they might be going afterwards. I'll take Yokitomo and we'll go to Kim Possible and her companion. I'm sure they're here looking for Stoppable-san as well."

Taïka bowed down.

"Will do Sensei. Please be careful. We'll wait for your safe return."

Turning back, he calmly said a few words and instantly disappeared. Only the rustling of a few leaves could show that the hidden teenagers were now on the move.

The two girls left exchanged a nod and moved out as well, heading towards the entrance that Kim and Shego had taken a few minutes ago.

 **Inside the lair**

"They're DEAD, Kim !"

The redhead felt a knife pierce her heart. _Not again. Please, not again. I can't deal with this again._ For a few seconds, she didn't say anything. Only those three sentences repeated themselves in her brain. She opened her mouth, wanting to speak, but only a growl came out. She closed her eyes and breathed before trying again.

"Thanks for the information. I'll talk to you later."

She quickly ended the communication with the tech boy. Her face showed no expression. Kim began to walk forward while Shego simply looked at her before following her. Then, suddenly, the teen stopped and leaned her head on the wall. The older woman came to a halt as well and said nothing. She knew it was better to not say anything. She had heard the conversation through her own earphone. Shego could see the young hero was strongly affected by the news. Kim had told her nemesis the whole story about Yamanouchi and the ninja students over there. It was obvious that they had formed at least a small bond between them.

The redhead clenched her fist. _For fuck's sake. First Ron, now this ?_ She gritted her teeth, barely holding back tears of sadness and frustration. Then, her shoulders dropped and she fell on her knees, leaning against the wall. _I can't do it. Not like this._ She was cracking up. How could she do anything this time ? Whoever was behind everything had killed not only Ron, but a whole school filled with ninja students, some of them even being able to manipulate some mystical energy. How could she, a highschool girl, do _anything_ that they couldn't ? It was over. She didn't even know why she'd bothered to come here. She wouldn't find anything here, she could feel it.

Kim felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Shego, who had crouched beside her and was looking at her dead in the eye.

"I'm sorry about this. But we gotta keep moving, or else we've really come here for nothing."

"It's over, Shego. I mean, look at me. I'm a fucking teenage girl who fights criminals on her spare time. I can't even compare to the students from Yamanouchi. And even them were taken out, killed just like Drakken and – "

"Stop this. Goddammit, is this really the girl who's beaten me so many times ? I mean, hell, you don't look like yourself right now. Where is the fiery, smug redhead that always beats up villains ?"

"You don't get it, do you ? Look at this whole situation ! This guy isn't like the ones I'm used to fight against ! He KILLED all of these people ! I don't even know what he's planning, but can you imagine the ressources he must have ?"

"And that's exactly why you gotta stand up and fight !" Shego yelled. "Honestly, I wouldn't even care about all of this if this dude hadn't killed Drakken. And I also wouldn't care about it if I wasn't afraid of what he can do ! Think about it. It's like you said: he killed Ron, Drew, all those ninja youngsters. He managed to put me under his control and he was even able to beat you and your tech boy genius. So yeah, I'm damn worried about what this guy wants to do."

"You know you spent years trying to subdue the whole world with Drakken, right ?"

"Yeah, but there's a big difference. You've seen the plans of all your usual enemies. Most of them are just to obtain large amounts of money or to make them world leaders or something. And even if they were to become world leaders, would you really fear for your life ? I mean, of course, they would throw some people in prison, control them and all...But they would never kill without a good reason. Their main interest lies in just being at the top. They have no particular interest in torture or murder. But this guy ? I've seen many criminals in my life. And he's exactly the type that only seeks to destroy what and whoever opposes what he wants. Even at the top, he would continue to kill and torture. That's the difference. And if he was able to beat you and Wade, I don't think any police or government in the world would be able to defeat him. Now, stand the fuck up and let's go."

With that, the villainess began to walk away. Kim stayed where she was, mouth gaping, watching as her nemesis slowly got further and further away from her. _Now I'm getting motivational speeches from Shego ? What the fuck is going on today ?_ But as strange as it was, she had to admit the older woman was right. Of course this whole situation was unusual and a lot worse than any other she had faced. And that was the only reason she needed to keep going. She had already lost more friends in a few weeks than in sixteen years and she wasn't about to let people all around the world feel the same pain. She knew all too well how hard it was. So she stood up.

And as she did, she suddenly heard a loud voice coming from ahead of her in the corridor.

"Princess ! You'd better come here quick. I'm betting you'll like what I'm seeing here..."

Kim immediately rushed forward, soon seeing Shego's silhouette. She stopped right beside her and got in a fighting stance, prepared to engage any ennemy that would try to attack them. Instead, the teen's arms dropped down and her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. The two women were right at the entrance of a large room, the one Wade had told them about. Right ahead there was another corridor that went further inside the lair. One door was on the right side of the room, while two other closed doors could be seen on the left side. But what surprised the young hero was what – or rather _who_ – stood right in the middle of the room. Two slim but well-built silhouettes that would have been almost impossible to see had it not been for the turned-on light. Fully dressed in black, the two young girls also wore masks upon their faces, hiding their features. There was no doubt about it though: those were Yamanouchi students.

"Wha...But, Wade said...Weren't you all...dead ?"

Shock and confusion were all over the redhead's face. It became even stronger when the two black-dressed youngsters slowly took off their masks. Kim didn't know the younger girl, but she did recognize the older one. Tears formed in the young hero's eyes. She dropped on her knees.

"...Yori ?"

The tall, black-haired teenage girl smiled warmly and got closer. She then bowed down and spoke.

"As always, it is a pleasure, Possible-san."

 **On the other side of the island**

Taïka held up his hand and felt his comrades get to a halt. He didn't need to look back to know they had already concealed themselves among the landscape. He crouched a few meters ahead of the other students, right behind a tree and glanced around it. In front of him, he instantly noticed the large group Yokitomo had told them about a few minutes ago. Watching closely, he counted at least twenty goons, men and women, carrying boxes and different weapon-like tools inside a large cargo plane, motors whirring and ready to take off. Looking around, he could also see three helicopters standing-by, obviously waiting for someone. And Taïka quickly noticed this important person.

The man was walking calmly towards one of the helicopters, taking his time while examining what seemed to be a small electronic tablet. A small group of goons followed him, arms full of different computer pieces and other devices. The young japanese ninja focused, trying to get a good glimpse of the boss' features. He was not tall, maybe even a bit smaller than average. He wore a great number of clothes though, so Taïka couldn't see his skin. But he could sense something strange coming from the man, a weird feeling, almost...childish, as if the individual was much more younger than he seemed. He couldn't say why, but something about his way of walking, his demeanor showed some kind of immaturity.

The individual suddenly stopped as he was getting ready to get on a helicopter. He turned around, took a small remote-like device out of his pocket and pushed a button. He then got on the flying machine and Taïka saw his opportunity. Moving swiftly and quickly, he seemed to disappear from behind his tree and reappeared thirty meters away, beside a large crate that was left not too far from the cargo plane. He then listened to the last goons still carrying tools towards their transportation.

"...back hurts, I swear I have to change beds, my matress is killing me."

"Come on, hurry up ! You heard the boss, we have twenty minutes before the whole place blows up and I'm not carrying you to the plane."

"Yeah, yeah, I know already. Geez, I'm allowed to complain a bit, aren't I ?"

"God, you're annoying. Think about where we're going though ! Some sun, sand beaches...It's going to be the sweet life !"

"Guess you're right. I just hope the boss will let us have some free time, we've been working non-stop these last few weeks. The Mediterranean sea must be so nice at this time of the year..."

"Hey guys ! Hurry up ! We're taking off in two minutes ! Get your asses up in here !"

"Coming, Frank !"

The two goons joined Frank on board and closed the large doors of the plane behind them. Taïka was already running with his comrades, quickly going back to their arrival point, praying for their Sensei's safe return. But he dismissed those thoughts. The safety of his companions came frst. Besided, Sensei was more than capable of handling herself. Still, he glanced at the large building on his left, almost expecting it to explode at that exact moment. But they still had eighteen minutes. A disturbing question then came to the ninja's mind.

 _Why the hell wait so much time before blowing this place up ?_

 **Inside the lair**

"Damn it, it seems the signal can't reach this deep into the lair, I can't get a hold of Wade... But how is this possible ? What happened to you guys ? And your arm – "

"With all due respect Possible-san, I will explain everything later. Right now, we have to hurry and go forward."

"Point taken. But why are you here ? I didn't expect to find you in this place."

Before answering, Yori turned to Yokitomo.

"Guide us, you're the one who tracked his energy."

"Yes, Sensei".

They started walking again and Yori finally answered Kim's question.

"Yokitomo here has a very speific talent. When she focuses, she is able to detect and track any energy. She can quickly find and follow individuals in a very large radius just by focusing on the energy that flows in and out of them. A few days ago, we were in a hideout and she was keeping guard, looking for the energetic signatures of students who were supposed to join us later. The thing is, many have this ability among our students. But Yokitomo's ability is more precise and also lets her identify energies she's come across before."

Kim and Shego nodded, both trying to follow where this explanation was going.

"As she searched for those energies, she detected a very strong one that quickly wore out. It came from here. She identified it as Stoppable-san's mystical energy. So we came here to investigate."

Kim stopped in her tracks, dumbfounded.

"What ? But, that can't be...Ron..." She hesitated. "...Ron died a few weeks ago."

It was Yori's turn to stop. A horrified look on her face, she turned to Kim. The redhead expected tears to form in the japanese girls' eyes, but she could see the enormous self-control she was trying to have.

"What ?! How ? What happened ? How is this possible ?"

"...It's actually a very complicated story. But I know that the guy who runs this place is involved. So we're here to take him out. But I can't understand how Ron's energy might be here..."

Yori barely heard those words. Her world seemed to lose balance for one second. She almost stumbled. _The school, Sensei...and now Stoppable-san ? How can this be ?_ But she tried to regain her composure. Her harsh training had taught her to shut her feelings. She couldn't get troubled now. She had to focus. She had to take care of her students. She would think about it later. She would honor him once her task was done.

"...I don't know either. But if he's really...dead, we have to assume that this man may have managed to extract Stoppable-san's energy. We have to investigate. Let's go."

Her sharp tone surprised Kim. She wasn't used to seeing the young ninja express so many emotions in her sentences. But she quickly understood that she was only trying to focus on the current task. The redhead breathed in and tried to do the same. _We'll talk later. Now, let's find out what the hell is happening here_.

The group resumed their walking in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. They soon arrived in front a door. They would have gone past it had Yokitomo not told them to stop.

"It's here, Sensei."

Yori nodded, then looked at Kim. Sharing only one look, they simultaneously kicked the door open, breking its hinges and sending it a few meters inside the room. Her heart beating furiously, Kim entered first, finding herself in a very large, dark space. The lights turned on as soon as she took a few steps inside, blinding her for a few seconds. Looking away from the light, she frowned when she saw some dark stains on a wall. As her sight got used to the light, she gasped in horror.

 _Blood_.

"Ugh, fucking light...Wait, why is there so much blood on the floor ?"

But Kim didn't pay attention to Shego's words. Her eyes were now focused on the person in the center of the room. His head was low, close to his chest. Some chains held him up, not letting his feet touch the floor. His clothes were torn up and covered in stains. A strong smell came from him, too, a mix of sweat, body fluids and blood. His blonde hair was almost dark with filth. But the most troubling were the wounds. Scars covered and bruises covered his arms and legs. What was left of his clothes was covered in blood and, through the holes in his shirt, more scars and cuts were visible. As silence reigned in the room, only a faint sound could be heard, caused by blood continuously dripping from the prisoner's feet and into an already large pool of blood.

Fear and shock twisting her stomach, Kim slowly walked towars the man. Softly, she brought her hand to his chin and lifted it up. She saw a beat up face, covered in blood. Strong, dark marks around the eyes. A cut on the lips. And, as she felt her eyes begin to tear up, the light made the man frown and slowly open his own while still unconscious, allowing her to see the brown eyes she had dreamed of the last few weeks. Sobbing silently, she gently ran her hand alongside his face, over his blood-stained freckles.

 _Ron. Oh, Ron._

The redhead brought her forehead closer until it rested against his, then closed her eyes and, after a few seconds, softly called out the other women.

"Let's free him."

Without a word, Shego and Yori quickly came beside her and broke the chains while Yokitomo stayed at the door to keep guard, not wanting to interrupt the reunion. Ron fell in Kim's open arms and she held him like this, not wanting to let him go. Yori and Shego watched from a few meters away, the Japanese obviously moved but not wanting to show it, while the henchwoman just kept silent, concern and relief both visible in her eyes.

The respectful, loving silence was broken though.

"Sensei, Taïka is here." 

Yori and Shego turned to Yokitomo, who stood now beside the young ninja. He catched his breath before speaking, worn out by the sprint he had taken from their embarcation to warn their Sensei of the coming explosion.

"Sensei, I overheard a discussion between some goons. The place is rigged to blow up in twenty minutes. Well, ten now, maybe less. The other students are already on our embarcation and ready to leave if we don't get there in time, but we have to go, now."

The Sensei nodded, then turned to Kim, who hadn't moved and was still holding Ron.

"Possible-san, you heard him. We need to leave now."

But the redhead didn't move, nor did she give an answer. Saying she was having a breakdown might be an overstatement, but her mind was flooded with thoughts, memories and feelings. She couldn't focus on anything else than the unconscious man in her arms. The touch of his body, his hair, his warmth...Everything was coming back to her and hitting her in the face. It felt like a dream. A very weird one, but still, a dream. She could hear Yori's voice getting louder, but her mind seemed to shut it down. Kim did see however from the corner of her eyes Shego walking straight to her. Instinctively, the young hero tensed her muscles, getting ready to take a punch. But she had trouble hiding her surprise when the henchwoman gently grabbed her cheek and turned her head before talking.

"Princess, we gotta go. You just got him back after you thought you lost him in an explosion. Do you want to lose him in an explosion _for real_ this time ?"

This seemed to bring the teen back to reality. Seeing her words had some effect, Shego kept going.

"Besides, giving the amount of blood he lost in this room, I'm not sure hugging him might be the most useful treatment right now. We should take him to a hospital."

Finally getting out of it, Kim nodded. Crouching, she let Shego get Ron on her back. When it was done, the teen stumbled a bit, trying to get used to her best friend's weight.

"You sure you can handle it, Kimmie ? You want me to carry him ?"

"No, I'm okay. I'll carry him."

 _There's no way in hell I'm letting anyone else carry him out of his place._

 **Outside, on some embarcations**

"How long since Taïka left ?"

"Five minutes."

"And how long until the scheduled explosion ?"

"Around eight minutes."

Meki nodded and strode forward on the island. As much as he tried to hide it, he knew his concern was showing. The boats were ready to leave with all the students on board. One word from him and he knew that they would all start rowing away from the island. He really hoped he wouldn't have to give that order, though. His Sensei and two of his friends were still at great risk and he wanted to wait for them until the last second – but Meki knew he couldn't do that. He had to think about the students' safety. The ninja gritted his teeth and turned to the boats. He could see some of the students trying to track down their Senseis' energy. They were far from being as talented as Yokitomo – that girl had a gift – but if even one of them could pinpoint their location, Meki would worry far less.

His train of thought was interrupted at that moment.

"I found them !"

Turning quickly, Meki rushed to the young student who had spoken up.

"Are they far ?"

"Four minutes away, more or less."

Meki nodded. _It's going to be tight._ He turned to all the students and spoke up.

"Get ready to row ! We have to get away as fast as possible from the island as soon as Sensei and the others get here ! Understood ?"

The loud "Yes !" yelled by the students calmed Meki down, even if just a bit. But he knew the knot in his stomach wouldn't leave until his master came back.

 **Just outside the lair**

"Come on, we're almost outside ! Keep going !"

The small group came out of the building. Seeing the others glancing around, trying to find a way to the embarcations, Taïka quickly got forward, guiding them in the right direction. Yokitomo got behind him, while Shego and Yori stayed on each side of Kim, who was still carrying Ron on her back. The green villainess shot a glance behind them, towards the lair they just left.

"How long 'til this place blows up ?"

"I don't know, but I suggest we run faster."

Shego nodded at Yori's answer. She couldn't help but feel nervous. _This guy really likes explosions too much_. Her gaze then came upon Ron. She still had trouble believing he was alive. She was glad, of course, but she was still worried though. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very odd about this whole thing.

"I see them !"

They all heard Meki's scream, a few yards away. Barely a few seconds later, two ninjas were already at Kim's side, urging her to let them help her carry Ron. The redhead thought about refusing, but she quickly understood that they only wanted to get to the boats faster. She reluctantly let them grab the boy and began running as close to them as she could, not wanting lo let her friend out of her sight for one second.

As soon as they got close to the boats, many arms shot out to grab and pull them on the embarcations. The students were already rowing even though Kim and the others weren't fully on the boats yet. The teen barely had time to sit up before a huge heatwave made her and the others violently jerk forward. Turning back, the redhead could only see a huge ball of smoke and fire going up in the sky above the island. She quickly turned her eyes away though, her gaze now looking for Ron. Once she made sure he was alright, she took him in her arms and held him tight while the Yamanouchi students resumed their rowing.

They still had a long way to go.

 **A small hospital in New Zealand, some hours later**

Yori sat down on a chair in the deserted waiting room. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander. She finally had a moment to rest and she was grateful for it ; the latest events had unfolded so quickly that she hadn't taken the time to think about anything.

Obviously, the first thing to come to her mind was the double shock: learning of Stoppable-san's death, then finding him alive. Of course, she was a ninja, so she had been trained to control even her strongest emotions. Focus was essential, even more now that she was a Sensei. On the field, she couldn't allow herself to get distracted by her feelings and her concern. But now, she could just breathe and –

"Are you meditating or something ?"

Holding in a frustrated sigh, Yori opened her eyes just in time to see Shego sit down next to her. Mentally cursing her for interrupting her alone time, she quickly dismissed those feelings and answered.

"No, I am just resting a bit after all that has happened."

"Yeah, I see what you mean. I feel like I just aged twenty years in just a few months. Feels horrible."

Silence followed those words. Yori could feel the henchwoman wanted to talk, but she wasn't about to take the first step. So she waited. It didn't take long before Shego blurted out her concern.

"Honestly, don't you feel like all of this is weird ? Like, apart from the whole plot about faking Ron's death, torturing him for God knows what and everything. I mean, what happened today."

Yori didn't answer straight away. She had given some thought to the situation too, mostly after Taïka expressed some of his concerns to her. Indeed, some things seemed odd or, at least, non-logical.

"I agree. Some things don't add up. Why leave Stoppable-san behind ? Did they want him to die with the explosion ?"

"I don't think so. Think about it, the explosion was timed to twenty minutes. And following what your ninja student said, the guy activated the timer with a remote. Plus, based on my own unpleasant experience, I can say he's very good with technology, so he could have perfectly made everything go up in flames within a safe distance and without setting up a timer. So my guess is he wanted us to find Ron. The question is why ?"

"Well, either he just didn't need him anymore and he's confident that we won't be able to stop him even with Ron's help, or..."

"...or it's a trap."

Both women looked at each other, a concerned look on their faces. If it was indeed a trap, they had no idea what it could be.

"I don't think it's a trap. I think he's just overconfident and he wants to play with my nerves."

They turned to see Kim closing in on them, then grabbing a chair to sit with them. Yori was the first to speak.

"How is Stoppable-san ? And how are you ?"

The redhead gave a tired smile.

"He's...well, I guess he's good, given what he went through. We know he was...tortured, but the doctors are still running some more exams. For now, he's under intense care. As for me, I don't really know how to feel. I keep switching from happy for having him back, to sad and angry at what he went through. I'll know better when he wakes up."

A small silence followed. Then Kim spoke up again.

"By the way, it's weird to see you in those clothes, Yori. You almost look like an American now !"

The Japanese girl couldn't help but roll her eyes while Shego let out a chuckle. As to not draw attention, she had – reluctantly – switched her black uniform for short jeans, a white shirt and a thin black jacket. She really didn't feel comfortable like this, but she knew it was a sacrifice she had to make if she wanted to stay in the hospital. Fortunately for her, Shego intervened and changed the subejct.

"What do you mean you think he's playing with your nerves, Kimmie ?"

"Well, up until now the exams have shown nothing out of ordinary apart from the physical wounds. My guess is this guy just needed Ron for a reason and decided to he didn't need him anymore. As for why he let us have him back instead of just killing him, I don't really know. Maybe to brag ? Like, "oh, look what I did to your friend". We'll have to ask Ron when he wakes up."

Shego nodded.

"I guess you're right. And after that, we'll have to track this guy again."

The redhead shot her a glance.

"Don't tell me you want to bring him to justice."

"Who do you think I am ? I just want to punch him hard in every part of his body. This is about revenge. I'm sure you want it too."

Kim silently nodded. Shego was right. She couldn't deny that she lusted for revenge against this mystery man. A sudden cough drew her attention towards Yori.

"As a matter of fact, my students are already on the task at hand."

"That's right, now that I think about it, where are all the other Yamanouchi students ?"

"Well, since we couldn't all come into the hospital, I sent them to investigate in the are, look for any information the locals might have on the lair we were at. Also, another group should be organizing our trip back to the United States. I think it would be best for Stoppable-san to receive more advanced treatment there, after his condition has gotten better of course."

"That's great. This way we don't lose time."

Another silence followed. Kim fidgeted for a few seconds, wondering how to ask her next question. _Oh, to hell with it_.

"Say, Yori...What happened to your school then ? Wade told me he'd seen satellite pictures of the place. Everything was destroyed, there were bodies...How the hell did you guys get away ?"

The young Sensei didn't answer straight away. She knew the question would come up eventually, but she still struggled to gather her thoughts and form the words. After a few seconds, she spoke.

"A few months ago, we heard rumours that some individuals were asking questions about the ancient Monkey myths. It actually isn't that rare, since the myths are a bit known in Japan. But those people seemed quite insistent with it, so Sensei asked us to watch them, just in case. They eventually got the information they were looking for, that is the location of our school grounds. I sincerely don't know how they did it." She stopped for a moment. "I don't know if it was a coincidence, but on the day they attacked, most of us weren't there. Sensei had asked me to take the students out for some training in the mountains while he stayed to give some specific training to more advanced students. We were all sparring when we heard the first explosions. We came back as fast as we could, but we were too late. The buildings were already shattered and in flames. The students were all dead and our Sensei... was agonizing." Yori stopped again, visibly disturbed by her tale. She carried on quickly, almost wanting to be done with it."With his last words, he passed on his role to me, making me responsible for all the students that are left. After that, we left before those goons could come back to finish their work. And we found refuge in Mexico."

"Wait a minute there, ninja girl. This doesn't explain everything. How did you lose an arm ? And I'm guessing your Sensei was quite powerful, so how could some goons have beaten him ? I mean, hell, he had some powers, right ?"

Yori hesitated, then shook her head.

"Sensei had been sick for a few weeks at that time. His powers were getting weaker. Mere days before the attack, he called me to his room. He told me that he knew he was nearing the end of his life. He wanted to start planning the ceremony during which he would pass on his role to me and give me the remainings of his powers. I already knew that I would be his successor, but it still came as a surprise. But you're right. Even in this weakened state, he should have been able to defend the school and himself. The problem is that the goons used heavy firepower: some of the damage to the school grounds was obviously caused by big explosions and I saw them use rocket launchers and other heavy firearms. Most of the bodies also ahd bullet holes in them. With strong enough firepower, even a talented ninja like those advanced students can't stant a chance. And with a weakened Sensei...The story writes itself." She stopped. Seeing Shego open her mouth again, she anticipated her question. "As for my arm, when we got close to the grounds, I ordered the students under my care to wait for me and be careful not to draw attention. I went in, but I was spotted among the debris by one of the goons. He fired in my direction." Yori stopped again as a shiver ran along her spine. Shaking her head, she kept going. "Even though I avoided the rocket, the explosion it caused almost completely ripped off my arm. I was laying on the ground when the man came to me and got ready to fire again, but Taïka had followed me. He took care of him and then helped me get to Sensei. That's when we found him dying. But, as the great master he was, he didn't hesitate to use the last of his powers to rip my useless arm off and seal the wound. Once it was done, he made me a Sensei. That's how it all happened."

A deadly silence followed her last sentence. Shego seemed at a loss for words, while Kim just sat there, horrified and angry. These guys had made them suffer so much. Shego, Drakken, Ron, her and now even Yori. Solemnly, the redhead stood up and bowed in front of the Japanese girl.

"I promise I'll find these guys. And I promise they will get what they deserve for making all of us suffer so much. With your help, I swear there will be no place on Earth where they'll be able to hide and escape from us."

As she looked up, she could see Yori's eye shine for just a second. From a girl who was always controlling and repressing her emotions, it was all she needed to see.

Straightening up, Kim spoke up again.

"Well, I'll be leaving you now, guys. I have to call Wade, otherwise he is going to launch an army of robots all over the world just to find me and scold me for not giving any news."

"Then I guess I'm going to take a nap. I'm still sore from those wounds back in Canada. Warn me if anything new comes up, all right ?"

The redhead nodded. As Shego got out of the room, Kim turned back to Yori.

"And what will you do now ?"

"Do not worry, Possible-san. I will stay here and rest a bit. Please do warn me if you get any information and I will do the same."

The young teen hero smiled.

"Of course."

She then turned back and got out of the room, taking out her Kimmunicator out of her pocket. She had been ignoring Wade's calls for the last few hours, as she was too focused on Ron. She sighed.

 _I am so getting scolded over this._

 **Greece, an island in the Mediterranean sea**

As soon as his helicopter landed, the man walked straight to his new lair, leaving behind his goons to take care of the what they had carried on the planes. As he entered the building and headed to his office, he thought back to the events of the day. Everything had gone well. Of course, if the explosion had taken Kim and her friends out, it would have been perfect, but he never expected her to go down so easily. As for Ron...Well, he didn't need the young boy anymore. He could have killed him, but hey, wasn't it more fun to just give him back to little Kimmie ? Plus, he was confident: Ron wouldn't be up for some more fighting before long, after all the torture his goons had put the blonde through. Still, he had to think of some way to get rid of that cheerleader...She still hadn't seriously threatened his plans, but that could change soon if he didn't take care of the situation. But he also had to start the search for the Han, the Yono and the Shoi. He sighed. The next were going to be very busy ones.

As he reached his office, he began setting up his computers. Something also made the situation even more complicated: some Yamanouchi students had survived. He'd seen the two girls who had infiltrated the lair through the security cameras before the building exploded. They were maybe even more dangerous than the Possible girl, due to their link to the mystical energy.

Starting his computer systems, he saw that a new message had received his encrypted online mailbox. Arching an eyebrow, he opened it – his security system having automatically analyzed the message for viruses – and, as he read it, a sadistic smile crept on his face. How stupid had he been for a brief moment ! He'd forgottent he had strong allies in the United States. After all, it made sense that Kim would go back there to treat her best friend.

Letting out a small laugh, he quickly answered the message. He knew he could trust this person to get the job done. Now, all he needed to do was to focus on tracking the mystical beings.

 _This day just keeps getting better !_


End file.
